1

A Project Report

On

UTILIZATION OF WASTE PLASTIC IN ROAD

CONSTRUCTION

GURU NANAK DEV ENGINEERING COLLEGE , LUDHIANA

BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY

In

CIVIL ENGINEERING

By

ARJUN KUMAR (1614308)

AMANPREET SINGH (1614305)

ANUBHAV (1614307)

Under the guidance of

PROF. PRASHANT GARG

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Prof. prashant garg for his invaluable
guidance. His continuous encouragement and support has always been an inspiration and a
source of energy for us. We thank him for all of his valuable time, effort and help.

We would also like thank Prof. K.S. GILL, HOD of civil department , for being constant source
of inspiration

We take this opportunity to express our sincere gratitude to our TEACHING FACULTY,
Department of Civil Engineering who relentlessly tried to get best out of us..

Also our sincere thanks to all the people who were directly or indirectly associated with the
project in any other way.

AMANPREET SINGH

ANUBHAV

ARJUN KUMAR
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ABSTRACT

The waste plastic and its disposal is a major threat to the environment, which results in pollution
and global warming. The utilization of plastic waste in bituminous mixes enhances its properties
and also its strength1. In addition it will also be a solution to plastic disposal & various defects
in pavement viz., pot holes, corrugation, ruts, etc.
The waste plastic used are poly-ethylene, poly-styrene, poly-propylene. The waste plastic is
shredded & coated over aggregate & mixed with hot bitumen and resulted mix is used for
pavement construction.
This will not only strengthen the pavement but also increases its durability. The titanium-
dioxide is used as a smoke absorbent material, which will absorb the smoke from the vehicles.
This innovative technology will be boon for Indian hot-humid climate. It is economical and
eco-friendly.
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TABLE OF CONTENT

CHAPTER -1
INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………...6

CHAPTER-2
LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………………………….….7-8

CHAPTER-3
3.1 OBJECTIVE……………………………………………………………………….9
3.2 SCOPE OF THE PROJECT……………………………………………………….9

CHAPTER-4
WHY PLASTIC……………………………………………………………………….10

CHAPTER-5
RAW MATERIALS …………………………………………………………………...11
5.1 AGGREGATE…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….11

5.2 BITUMEN…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………11

5.3 PLASTIC WASTE……………………………………………………………………………………………………………....11

CHAPTER-6
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY…………………………………………………..…12-13
6.1. WASTE PLASTIC SHREDDING……………………………………………………………………………………………12

6.2. DETAILS OF SHREDDING MACHINE…………………………………………………………………………………..12

CHAPTER-7
PLASTIC AGGREGATE BITUMEN INTERACTION MODEL……………………………………………………………14

CHAPTER-8
PROCESS………………………………………………………………………………15-16
8.1. DRY PROCESS…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..15

8.2. WET PROCESS………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….15

CHAPTER-9
ANALYSIS OF TEST RESULT……………………………………………………….17-20
9.1. AGGREGATE TEST RESULT………………………………………………………………………………………………..17

9.2. BITUMEN TEST RESULT…………………………………………………………………………………………………….18

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9.3. COST ANALYSIS…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………18

9.4. COMPARISON BETWEEN STRENGTH…………………………………………………………………………………19

9.5. PERFORMANCE OF PLASTIC ROAD…………………………………………………………………………………….19

9.6. BITUMEN EXTRACTION AT CERTAIN LEVEL……………………………………………………………………...20

CHAPTER-10
RESULTS……………………………………………………………………………......21

CHAPTER -11
PLASTIC TAR ROAD LAID IN INDIA……………………………………………….22

CHAPTER-12
OBERVATION…………………………………………………………………………23

CHAPTER -13
REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………….24
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CHAPTER -1
INTRODUCTION
Plastic is a substance which has a broad range of synthetic or semi synthetic organic
compounds. It is user friendly and durable but not eco-friendly and also they are non-
biodegradable. It is estimated that approximately 10 thousand tons per day (TPD) of plastics
waste is generated i.e. 9% of 1.20 lacs TPD of MSW in India. The plastic waste constitutes two
major categories of plastics; (i)Thermoplastics and (ii) Thermoset plastics. Thermoplastics,
constitutes 80% and thermoset constitutes approximately 20% of total postconsumer plastics
waste generated in India.
Plastic is a non-biodegradable material and it has been found that it can remain on earth for
about 4500 years without showing any signs of degradation. Its improper disposal can cause
serious health hazards in humans.
If these materials can be suitably utilized in highway construction, the pollution and disposal
problems may be partly reduced.
Waste plastics i.e. polythenes, carry bags, etc. softens on heating on around 130oC, in the
temperature range of 130-180oC, and softened plastic have a binding property, hence the molten
plastic can be used as binder or mixed with the bitumen to enhance its properties resulting in a
overall reduction in bitumen consumption by 8%, enhanced load carrying strength, reduced
wear and tear, prevents release of 3 tonnes of CO2 (through disposal by burning) into the
atmosphere, increased road strength, excellent resistance to water and water stagnation, no
stripping and potholes formation, enhanced binding,
reduced rutting and ravelling, improved soundness property, negligible maintenance cost of the
road, no leaching of plastics and no effect of UV radiation.
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CHAPTER -2
LITERATURE REVIEW
1. Justo(2005) States that addition of 8.0 % by weight of processed plastic for the preparation
of modified bitumen results in a saving of 0.4 % bitumen by weight of the mix. Modified
Bitumen improves the stability or strength, life and other desirable properties of bituminous
concrete mix.
2.Vasudevan and Rajasekaran, (2007) stated that the polymer bitumen blend is a better binder
compared to plain bitumen.Blend has increased Softening point and decreased Penetration
value with a suitable ductility. The coating of plastics reduces the porosity, absorption of
moisture and improves soundness.
3.Gawande (2013)“Economics And Viability Of Plastic Road” evaluated flexural fatigue
life of asphalt concrete modified by plastic as part of aggregated and reported that fatigue life
and creep properties of the polymer modified mixes increased significantly as compared to
unmodified asphalt mixes.
4.Khan and Gundaliya (2012) stated that the process of modification of bitumen with waste
polythene enhances resistance to cracking, pothole formation and rutting by increasing softening
point, hardness and reducing stripping due to water, thereby improving the general performance of
roads over a long period of time. According to them the waste polythene utilized in the mix forms
coating over aggregates of the mixture which reduces porosity, absorption of moisture and improves
binding property.
5.Swami et al. (2012) investigated that the total material cost of the project is reduced by 7.99%
with addition of plastic to bitumen between the ranges of 5% to 10%. They concluded that by
modification of bitumen the problems like bleeding in hot temperature regions and sound
pollution due to heavy traffic are reduced and it ultimately improves the quality and
performance of road.
6.Yousefi (2009) stated that the polyethylene particles do not tend to rip in bitumen medium
and these particles prefer to join together and form larger particles due to interfacial and inter-
particle attractive forces and the only obstacle in the modification process was the existence of
partitions made from molten bitumen. According to the author whenever, particles had enough
energy to come close together and overcome the thin remained bitumen film which was
separating particles, the coalescence of polyethylene particles occurred and lead to polymer
phase separation.
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7. Vasudevan (2004) utilized polythene/polypropylene Bags for integrated development of

Rural and Arterial road network for socio-economic Growth. He studied both dry and wet
mixing process by adding polymer with respect to the weight of bitumen used. Author reported
that polymer bitumen blend is a better binder compared to plain bitumen resulting higher Marshall
Stability and decreasing the possibilities of potholes formation.
8.Aslam and Rahman (2009) studied both dry and wet mix and concluded that the dry process
is more economical and beneficial for construction of flexible pavements. Because in case of
higher percentage of polythene in wet process they get separate out from bitumen on cooling,
so it needs some additives.
9.ScienceTech Entrepreneur (2008) propossed that the durability of the roads laid with
shredded plastic waste is much more compared with those which asphalted with the ordinary
mix. While a normal highway road lasts 4 to 5 years it is claimed in this paper that plastic-
bitumen roads can last up to 10 years. According to this paper rainwater will not seep through
because of the plastic in the tar. So, this technology will result in lesser road repairs.
10.The Indian Roads Congress Specifications Special Publication: 53 (2002) indicate that
the time period of next renewal may be extended by 50% in case of surfacing with modified
bitumen as compared to unmodified bitumen.
11.Verma (2008) studied that plastic increases the melting point of the bitumen and makes the
road flexible during winters resulting in its long life. According to author while a normal
“highway quality” road lasts four to five years, plastic-bitumen roads can last up to 10 years
and it would be a boon for India’s hot and extremely humid climate, where temperatures
frequently cross 50°C and torrential rains create havoc, leaving most of the roads with big
potholes.
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CHAPTER-3
3.1. OBJECTIVE
1.To compare the various properties of the bituminous road and plastic bituminous road.
2.To identify the optimum proportion of waste plastic to be added in the bitumen mix for getting
the required strength.
3.To reduce the disposal problem of plastics.

4.To evaluate the performance tests like crushing, impact, abrasion, attrition using plastic
coated aggregate

3.2. Scope of The Project

To eradicate potholes.
2.To minimize the global warming , greenhouse gases and pollution.
3.The lifespan of the roads can be increased.
4.Eco-friendly in nature.
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CHAPTER- 4

WHY PLASTIC ?

Today availability of plastic waste is enormous. The use of plastic materials such as carry
bags, cups, etc is constantly increasing. Nearly 50% to 60% of total plastic are consumed for
packing. Once used, plastic packing materials are thrown outside and they remain as waste.
Plastic wastes are durable and non-biodegradable. The improper disposal of plastic may
cause breast cancer, reproductive problems in humans and animals, genital abnormalities and
much more. These plastic wastes get mixed with water, disintegrate, and take the forms of
small pallets which cause the death of fishes and other aquatic life who mistake them as food
material. Sometimes they are either land filled or incinerated. Plastic wastes get mixed with
the municipal solid waste or thrown over a land area. All the above processes are not ecofriendly
as they pollute the land, air and water. Under these circumstances, an alternative use
of these plastic wastes is required.
So these plastic materials when heated to around 1200c to 1500c, they melt and in their molten
state they can be used as a binder. Only if they are heated to temperature more than 2500c they
may decompose producing gaseous products which results in air pollution. Coating molten
plastic over granite stone brings out the following effects
1. It is observed that the stones coated with plastics can be made to bind with bitumen strongly
resulting in better mix for road construction.
2. The coating of plastics over stone reduces the voids in the stone and helps to reduce moisture
absorption to a great extent.
3. Salt deposition on the pores of stone results in degradation of stones. This is also prevented
4. The spreading of bitumen is easy
5.No gas evolution in the temperature range of 130-180oC.
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CHAPTER-5

RAW MATERIALS
1. Aggregates
2. Bitumen
3. Plastic waste

5.1. Aggregates
Aggregates form the major portion of pavement structure and they form the prime materials
used in pavement construction. Aggregates have to bear stresses occurring due to the wheel
loads on the pavement and on the surface course. They also have to resist wear due to abrasive
action of traffic.

5.2. Bitumen
Bitumen plays an important role in binding the aggregate together by coating over the aggregate
thereby imparting strength to the road. Bituminous materials used in highway construction are
broadly classified into bitumen and tar. However, due to a poor resistance towards water and
high costs involved, there is a demand for high quality bitumen at low costs. This can be
accomplished by modifying the rheological properties of bitumen by using additives such as
plastic or rubber.

5.3. Plastic Waste

Stabilizing additives are used in the mixture to provide better binding property. In this present
study Plastic waste is used as stabilizing additive to improve performance characteristics of
pavement. The plastic waste such as carry bags, cups, disposables, etc. are shredded in the
shredding machine and then sprayed in different percentages over the hot aggregates.
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CHAPTER-6
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

6.1.Waste plastic shredding:

Shredding is the process of cutting the plastic into small sizes between 2.36mm to 4.75mm with
the help of the plastic shredding machine viz. Agglomerater and Scrap Grinder.

6.2.Details of Shredding Machine:

For shredding of poly-ethylene “Agglomerator” is used. In this process, plastic wastes are cut
in small pieces with the help of rotator blades. The process is completed in about half an hour.
The shredded waste plastic was sprayed over the hot aggregate which got coated on aggregate
when molted. The extent of coating was varied by using different percentage of plastic. Increase
in the percentage of plastic increases the properties of aggregates.

Fig -1. Collection of Waste plastic.

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Fig-2. Shredding of Waste plastic.

Fig -3. Waste plastic mixed with the hot aggregate

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CHAPTER-7
PLASTIC AGGREGATE BITUMEN INTERACTION
MODEL
The plastic waste in the shredded form is sprayed and spread over hot aggregates in such a way
that these aggregates get coated with a thin layer of molten plastic. The coated plastic remains
in softened state for a temperature range of 140oC to 160oC. The hot bitumen (160oC) is added
and spread over these aggregates. At this temperature both the coated aggregates and bitumen
remains in liquid state and are capable of diffusing easily at the interface. This process is further
helped by the increase in the contact area. When bitumen was mixed with plastic coated
aggregate a portion of bitumen diffuses through the plastic layer and binds with aggregate thus
forming the internal three dimensional linked network between plastic (polymer molecules) and
bitumen making the bond strong. Hence, the pavement so constructed can withstand extreme
weather condition, has extra strength, high cohesiveness and resistance to fatigue, stripping and
deformation, thus
increasing its lifespan.

Fig-4. Plastic aggregate bitumen interaction model for the Plastics waste coated aggregate
bitumen mix.
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CHAPTER-8
PROCESS
There are two main processes namely:
1. DRY PROCESS
2. WET PROCESS

8.1.DRY PROCESS:
For the flexible pavement, hot stone aggregate (170°C) is mixed with hot bitumen (160°C) and
the mix is used for road laying. In this process the shredded plastics are poured over the heated
aggregates, thus forming plastic coated aggregates which are then mixed with hot bitumen to
form plastic coated aggregate bitumen mixture for laying roads. The coating of plastic decreases
the porosity and helps to improve the quality of the aggregate and its performance in the flexible
pavement.

Fig-5. Flow chart of dry process

8.2. WET PROCESS:

These are the method used for formation of polymer based modified bitumen, in which the
waste polymer directly added with bitumen and heated upto temperature of 170 0C so that
proper blend is to be formed with proper dispersion of waste polymer into bitumen, then the
hot mix is then cooled upto 120 0C into another chamber, which is then added to the aggregate
in paddling chamber. After addition of modified bitumen at 120 0C on aggregate, it is then laid
on the road and then spreader material is compacted by 8 ton roller.
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Fig -6. Flow chart wet process

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CHAPTER-9

ANALYSIS OF TEST RESULT

9.1. AGGREGATE TEST RESULT

%of plastic Impact

value
0 16%
2.5 12%
5 10%
7.5 9%

Table -1. Aggregate impact value Fig- 7. Aggregate impact value

%of plastic Abrasion

value
0 18%
2.5 14%
5 12%
7.5 10%

Table-2. Aggregate abrasion value Fig-8. Aggregate abrasion value

%of plastic Crushing

value
0 22%
2.5 18%
5 13%
7.5 10%

Table-3. Aggregate crushing value Fig- 9. Aggregate crushing value

Source-INT. JOURNAL OF ENGG. RESEARCH AND APPLICATION VOL. 6 ISSN 2248-
9622
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9.2. BITUMEN TEST RESULT

Results of the tests conducted on bitumen modified with different percentages of plastic.
S. No. %age of %age of Softening Penetration Ductility
bitumen plastic point(0c) (mm) (mm)
1 100 0 43 73 63
2 98 2 48 58 58
3 96 4 57 55 54
4 94 6 61 53 50
5 92 8 63 50 47
6 90 10 66 46 44

TABLE – 4.
Source-IJERT VOL. 5 ISSUE 9 SEPT.2016 ISSN2278 -0181

9.3. Cost analysis for road construction

RESULT - Construction cost gets reduced by using plastic in

road.
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9.4. COMPARISION BETWWEN THE STRENGTH

RESULT- Better strength of plastic tar road than bitumen road

9.4. PERFORMANCE OF THE PLASTIC TAR ROAD

Laid march 2005 Laid march 2006

Photo November 2007 Photo November 2007

PHOTO-SOUTH INDIAN NEWS PAPER

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PERFORMANCE

A. No pothole
A. No cracking
B. No deformation
C. No edge flaw

9.5. Bitumen Extraction at certain Interval

%age of Bitumen Bitumen Bitumen

Extracted Extracted after Extracted
plastic After 5 Min 10 min after 15 min
% % %
0 95.0 97.0 98.0
0.5 63.0 87.9 92.3
0.75 62.7 85.3 90.7
1 60.6 76.2 82.8

TABLE-5
Source-GPEC 2006 Paper Abstract# R&S16 Title: Study on the Construction of Flexible Road
Using Plastic Coated Aggregate - Authors R Vasudevan
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CHAPTER-10

RESULTS
1. Strength increased by 100%.
2. No pothole, rutting and raveling formed.
3. Withstand heavy load.
4. Decreased bitumen consumption- construction cost reduced.
5. Value addition to waste plastic.
6. Nil maintenance cost for more than 7 years.
7. No effect of radiation like UV.
8. Life of the road doubled.
9. The aggregates coated with plastics give lower values of impact and abrasion which is
good for the aggregates.
10 The qualities of bitumen, i.e. softening point, ductility and penetration is also improved
considerably by replacing the bitumen with the plastic wastes.
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CHAPTER-11
PLASTIC TAR ROAD LAID IN INDIA
1. More than 33,796 km of roads in India are plastic roads, according to a World
Economic Forum report.
2. A new report, however, states that the actual length of plastic roads in India is more
than 100,000km as of October 2018.
3. Two-time winner of India’s cleanest city title, Indore recycles 100 per cent of its
plastic waste and has used 5,000 kilos of waste plastic to build 45 kilometre stretch
of roads in the last two years.
4. A total of 15% of all PMGSY roads are now being taken up through use of green
technology i.e. like waste plastic etc,.
5. Chennai have used 1,600 tonnes of plastic to construct 1,035.23 kilometres length
of roads.
6. Pune has already tired up with Rudra Environmental Solution (India) Ltd and gave
them a contract of building 12 trail plastic roads across the city.
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CHAPTER-12

OBSERVATION
1. In the modified process (dry process) plastics-waste is coated over aggregate. This helps
to have better binding of bitumen with the plastic-waste coated aggregate due to
increased bonding and increased area of contact between polymer and bitumen.
2. The polymer coating also reduces the voids. This prevents the moisture absorption and
oxidation of bitumen by entrapped air. This has resulted in reduced rutting, raveling,
and there is no pothole formation.
3. Based on engineering properties the plastic coated aggregate samples are more stable,
strengthen than normal aggregates and can be used in plastic roads.
4. As plastic are non-biodegradable and also harmful to environment thus, disposal of
plastic is a matter of great concern therefore use of waste plastic in the road construction
is an effective way of disposal of waste plastic.
5. The road can withstand heavy traffic and show better durability and also increase the
road life as well as help to improve the environment and will also create a source of
income.
6. By this the usage of Bitumen has reduced and was replaced by the polymer waste so as
the cost of the pavement has been reduced to 15% of the total cost.
7. The aggregates coated with plastics give lower values of impact and abrasion which is
good for the aggregates to be used in the road construction as they are subjected to wear
and tear from the traffic plying on the roads.
8. Similarly, the qualities of bitumen, i.e. softening point, ductility and penetration is also
improved considerably by replacing the bitumen with the plastic wastes, thereby
making plastic waste an easy and economic replacement of bitumen in the construction
of flexible pavement. By adding waste plastic to the bitumen the properties of bitumen
has been optimized.
9. Not only waste plastic improved the properties of bitumen but also improve the
properties of bituminous mix. Thus, the use of waste plastic ultimately improves the
performance and quality of flexible pavement.
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CHAPTER-13

REFERENCES
1. Al-Hadidy A.I. and Yi-qiu T. (2009), “Effect of polyethylene on life of flexible
pavements”, Journal of Construction and Building Materials, volume 23, pp. 1456-
1464.
2. Vasudevan R. (2004), “Use of Plastics Waste in Construction of Tar Road”.
3. Swami V., Jirge A., Patil K., Patil S., Patil S. and Salokhe K. (2012), “Use of waste
plastic in construction of bituminous road”, International Journal of Engineering
Science and Technology, Volume 4, pp. 2351- 2355.
4. Pareek A., Gupta T. and Sharma R. K. (2012), “Performance of polymer modified
bitumen for flexible pavements”, International journal of structural and civil
engineering research, Volume 1, pp. 1-10.
5. Jain P. K., Kumar S. & Sengupta J. B. (2011), “Mitigation of rutting in bituminous
roads by use of waste polymeric packaging materials”, Indian Journal of Engineering
& Materials Sciences Vol. 18, pp. 233-238.
6. IS: 1203 (1978), “Methods for testing tar and bituminous materials: determination of
penetration”, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi.
7. IS: 1205 (1978), “Methods for testing tar and bituminous materials: determination of
softening point”, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi.
8. Habib N. Z., Kamaruddin I., Napiah M. and Tan I. M. (2010), “Rheological properties
of polyethylene and polypropylene modified bitumen”, World Academy of Science,
Engineering and Technology, Volume 72, pp. 293-297.