SEMINAR 2010

Reuse Of Plastic Waste In Road

Construction

(Subject area: Transportation Engineering)

Prepared by: Guided by:

Name: Praveen yadav
B. Tech IV (Civil) Mr. S. Roy
Roll no: U07CE067
Year: 2010-11

2010-11
CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
S.V.NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY,
SURAT-395007

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CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that “ Praveen yadav” of

B Tech IV sem. 7th has satisfactory completed his seminar
report on “reuse of plastic waste in road construction ” during
academic year 2010 – 2011.

Signature of guide: Signature of:

Head of Department

DATE:

CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

S.V.NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY,
SURAT-395007

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I take opportunity to express my deep

sense of gratitude and indebtedness to “Mr. S. Roy” in Civil
Engineering department, S.V.N.I.T, Surat for his valuable
guidance, useful comments and co-operation with kind and
encouraging attitude at all stages of the experimental work for
the successful completion of this work. I am thankful to
Mrs.A.K.Khemebte and Dr.S.M.Yadav, seminar coordinators
for their guidance and support.
I am also thankful to Dr.B.K.Samtani,Prof
& Head of Civil Engg. Department.

Thank You

Praveen yadav

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Reuse Of Plastic Waste In Road Construction

Praveen yadav Mr. S.Roy

Civil Engineering Department Civil Engineering Department
S.V.N.I.T, Surat S.V.N.I.T, Surat
Email: p.yadav220@gmail.com Email: ssroy@ced.svnit.ac.in

ABSTRACT
Road is one of the most versatile infrastructure and plastic waste is one of the most
notorious problem. Development of plastic road encourages a solution of this notorious
problem and simultaneously increasing the strength of road. Plastic roads not only give
solution for damping waste plastic but give higher strength less maintenance and above all
they are cost effective too. So these eco-friendly roads are present and future need.

INTRODUCTION
Plastics, a versatile material and a friend to common man becomes a problem to the
environment after its use. Disposal of a variety of plastic wastes in an eco friendly way is the
thrust area of today’s research. The modern innovative techniques to use the waste plastics
and the tyre waste for the construction of flexible pavement, for making pathway blocks, and
for making laminated roofing sheets form a good solution for the waste disposal problem of
both plastic waste and municipal solid waste.

On heating at 100-160°C, plastics such as polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene,

soften and exhibit good binding properties. Blending of the softened plastic with bitumen
results in a mixed that is amenable for road laying. The mixed has been used to lay roads of
length up to 1,500 km in the state of Tamil Nadu. Other states like Maharashtra, Karnataka,
Pondicherry, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh have also laid test roads. These roads have
withstood loads due to heavy traffic, rain and temperature variation.

India has a large road network of over 3.314 million kilometers of roadways (2.1 million
miles), making it the third largest network in the world. Almost 80% of passenger traffic and
about 65% of freight movement is handled by this vast network. In general, roads in India are
primarily bitumen-based macadamized roads. However, a few of the National Highways
have concrete roads too.

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IS REALY PLASTIC HARMFULL???????

 Plastic Carry Bags Generate 60 – 79% Less Green House Gases than Paper
Bags
 Plastic grocery bags consume 40% less energy during production and generate
80% less solid waste after use than paper bags.
 Paper sacks generate 70% more air pollutants and 50 times more water
pollutants than plastic bags do.
 It takes 91% less energy to recycle a kilogram of plastic than a kilogram of
paper.

LITRATURE REVIEW

Roads laid with plastic waste mix are found to be better than the conventional ones. The
binding property of plastic makes the road last longer besides giving added strength to
withstand more loads.

While a normal “highway quality” road lasts four to five years it is claimed that plastic-
bitumen roads can last up to 10 years. Rainwater will not seep through because of the plastic
in the tar. So, this technology will result in lesser road repairs.

INITIATIVE AND PATENT

A Bangalore-based firm, K K Poly-flex and a team of engineers from R V College of

Engineering, Bangalore, have developed a way of using plastic waste for road construction.
An initial study was conducted in 1997 by the team to test for strength and durability.

PROCESS

The plastic waste (bags, cups, Thermocole) made out of PE, PP, & PS are separated, cleaned
if needed and shredded to small pieces (passing through 4.35mm sieve)

The aggregate (granite) is heated to 170oC in the Mini hot Mix Plant and the shredded plastic
waste is added, it gets softened and coated over the aggregate. Immediately the hot Bitumen
(160oC) is added and mixed well.

As the polymer and the bitumen are is the molten state (liquid state) they get mixed and the
blend is formed at surface of the aggregate. The mixture is transferred to the road and the road
is laid. This technique is extended to Central Mixing Plant too.

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CHARACTERISTICS OF PLASTIC COATED AGGREGATE

1. Moisture Absorption and Void Measurement

For the flexible pavement, hot stone aggregate (170oC) is mixed with hot bitumen (160oC)
and the mix is used for road laying. The aggregate is chosen on the basis of its strength,
porosity and moisture absorption capacity as per IS coding. The bitumen is chosen on the
basis of its binding property, penetration value and viscoelastic property. The aggregate, when
coated with plastics improved its quality with respect to voids, moisture absorption and
soundness. The coating of plastic decreases the porosity and helps to improve the quality of
the aggregate and its performance in the flexible pavement. It is to be noted here that stones
with < 2% porosity only allowed by the specification.

2 Soundness Test
Soundness test is intended to study the resistance of aggregate to weathering action. The
weight loss is attributed to the poor quality of the aggregate. The plastic coated aggregate, did
not show any weight loss, thus conforming the improvement in the quality of the aggregate.

3 Aggregated Impact Value

A study on the effect of plastic coating was extended to study on the aggregate impact value.
Aggregate was coated with 1% & 2% plastics by weight and the plastic coated aggregate was
submitted to Aggregate Impact Value test and the values were compared with values for non
coated aggregate.

Percentage of Plastics Aggregate Impact value

Nil 25.4

1% 21.20

2% 18.50

It is clearly observed that the coating of plastics improves Aggregate Impact Value. Coating
of plastics over the stone aggregate improves the quality of the aggregate. Moreover a poor
quality of aggregate can be made useful by coating with polymers.(Table). This in turn helps
to improve the quality of flexible pavement.

4 Los Angel’s Abrasion Test

The repeated movement of the vehicle with iron wheeled or rubber tire will produce some
wear and tear over the surface of the pavement. This wear and tear percentage of an aggregate
is determined with the help of Los Angeles abrasion study. Under this study the percentage of
wear and tear values of the plastic coated aggregate is found to be in decreasing order with
respect to the percentage of plastics (Eg. 37% without plastic, 32% with 1% plastic and 29%
with 2% plastic). When the Los Angeles abrasion value of plain aggregate value is compared
with the Plastic coated aggregate the values are less for polymer coated aggregate.

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Economics of Road Construction:

1. Laying of bitumen road – Indian Roads Congress (IRC) Specifications

There are different types of bitumen roads. They are, Dense Bituminous Macadam,
Bituminous Macadam. These roads differ in 3-ways i.e. 1. Composition of the aggregate; 2.
Type of bitumen used; and 3. Thickness of layer. Bitumen is an useful binder for road
construction. Different grades of bitumen like 30/40, 60/70, and 80/100 are available on the
basis of their penetration values and these grades can be used as IRC Specifications. Waste
plastics (10% in place of bitumen) can be used for these different types of bitumen roads. The
technology of road laying is very much the same as prescribed by the Indian Roads
Congress (Section 500, IV revision) Specifications. A detailed description of the material
required for laying of Semi Dense Bituminous Concrete (SDBC) 25 mm road (on
existing road) is described below: -

a. Materials:

For 1000Mx3.75M (25mm) Road :11.250 tons (60/70 grade) bitumen needed

Shredded Plastics Required : 10% by weight (passing 4.74mm sieve

& retaining 2.36 mm).

Bitumen replaced (saved) by 10/ % Plastics : 1.125 tons

Actual Bitumen Required : 10.125 tons

Aggregate (11.2mm) :70.875 Cu.M

Aggregate (6.7mm) : 43.125 Cu.M

Aggregate Dust : 23.625 Cu.M

b. Cost:

The total cost including material as mentioned above, labour charge etc. (At Madurai)
is approx. 5.00 lakh, however, the cost may be different from place to place and have
to be calculated accordingly. The cost break-up is given below :

(i) Collection of littered plastics : Rs. 0.50 lakh

(ii) Cost of shredder and other equipment : Rs. 0.50 lakh

(iii) Laying of road with material, labour etc. :Rs. 4.00 lak

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Comparison

The durability of the roads laid out with shredded plasticwaste is much more compared with
roads with asphalt with the ordinary mix. Roads laid with plastic waste mix are found to be
better than the conventional ones. The binding property of plastic makes the road last longer
besides giving added strength to withstand more loads. While a normal 'highway quality' road
lasts four to five years it is claimed that plastic-bitumen roads can last up to 10 years.
Rainwater will not seep through because of the plastic in the tar. So, this technology will
result in lesser road repairs. And as each km of road with an average width requires over two
tonnes of polyblend, using plastic will help reduce non-biodegradable waste. The cost of
plastic road construction may be slightly higher compared to the conventional method.
However, this should not deter the adoption of the technology as the benefits are much higher
than the cost. Plastic roads 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. Already, a kilometrelong test-track has been tested in Karnataka
using this technology. The government is keen on encouraging the setting up of small plants
for mixing waste plastic and bitumen for road construction. It is hoped that in near future we
will have strong, durable and eco-friendly roads which will relieve the earth from all type of
plastic-waste.

SILENT FEATURES

► Road strength is twice stronger than normal roads;

► Resistance towards water stagnation i.e. no potholes are formed;

► Less bleeding during summer;

► Burning of plastics waste could be avoided

► It doesn’t involve any extra machinery;

► It doesn’t increase cost of road construction;

► It helps to reduce the consumption of bituminous mix vis-à-vis

reduce cost

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CONCLUSION

The generation of waste plastics is increasing day by day. The major polymers namely
polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene show adhesion property in their molten state
Plastics will increase the melting point of the bitumen. The waste plastic bitumen mixforms
better material for pavement construction as the mix shows higher Marshall Stability value
and suitable Marshall Coefficient. Hence the use of waste plastics for pavement is one of the
best methods for easy disposal of waste plastics.

The use of the innovative technology not only strengthened the road construction but also
increased the road life as well as will help to improve the environment and also creating a
source of income.

Plastic roads 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. It is hoped that in near future we will have strong, durable and eco-
friendly roads which will relieve the earth from all type of plastic-waste.

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REFRENCES
 NORMS OF CENTRAL POLLUTION CONTROL BOARDS

 INDIAN CENTER FOR PLASTIC IN ENVIRONMENT

 MANAGEMENT OF PLASTICS,POLYMER WASTES AND BI O -

POLYMERS AND IMPACT OF PLASTICS ON THE ECO-SYSTEM
VOLUME 3 • ISSUE 1 • JAN.–M AR. 2005

 INDIAN CONGRESS NORMS FOR MATERIAL USED IN PLASTIC

 PROF . C.E.G. JUSTO HONORARY PROFESSOR, B ANGALORE UNIVERSITY

B ANGALORE AND DR. A. VEERARAGAVAN CO-ORDINATOR, CENTRE FOR
TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING, B ANGALORE UNIVERSITY, B ANGALORE - 560
0056

 DR. S.S. VERMA DEPT. OF PHYSICS, S.L.I.E.T., LONGOWAL , DISTT .-

SANGRUR (PUNJAB )-148 106

 R. VASUDEVAN1, S.K. NIGAM2, R. VELKENNEDY 3, RAMALINGA CHANDRA

SEKAR1 AND B. SUNDARAKANNAN 1

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Appendix-1

List of roads laid using waste plastics:

Process Blend Area Date Nature of

Composition Road
TCE Polymer Blending 5% PE 60’x 5’ 23nd March -02 Concrete
with Bitumen 1% PE
Road
th
Kovilpatti Polymer Blending 10% PE 600’x12’ 4 October-02 WBM road
with Metal and the
Mixing with Bitumen
th
Madurai Polymer Blending 15% PE 180’x10’ 5 October-02 Concrete
with Metal and the
Mixing with Bitumen Road
th
Salem Polymer Blending 10% PE 1000’x12’ 15 October- Concrete
with Metal and the 02
Mixing with Bitumen Road
Komara- Polymer Blending 10% Mixture * 300’x12’ 15th October- Concrete
palayam with Metal and the 02
Mixing with Bitumen Road
Chennai ** Polymer Blending 12% 600’x18’ 22ndNovember- Concrete
with Metal and the 02
Mixing with Bitumen Mixture * Road
Trichy Polymer Blending 10% Mixture * 600’x18’ 10th January- Concrete
with Metal and the 03
Mixing with Bitumen Road
Salem # Polymer Blending 10% Mixture * 5000’x 18’ 17th April-03 WBM
with Metal and the
Mixing with Bitumen
Erode Polymer Blending 10% Mixture * 1500’x 24’ 7th May-03 Bitumen road
with Metal and the
Mixing with Bitumen
Theni Polymer Blending 10% Mixture * 300’x18’ 10th May-03 WBM
with Metal and the
Mixing with Bitumen
Nagercoil Polymer Blending 10% Mixture * 1500’x18’ 16th May-03 WBM
with Metal and the
Mixing with Bitumen
Madurai- Polymer Blending 10% Mixture * 1.4 km WBM
Kombadi with Metal and the
Mixing with Bitumen

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