Papers

61,005 results
|
Article Tier 2

Utilization of Plastic Waste in Concrete Pavement

Researchers investigated the use of recycled high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic waste as an aggregate in concrete pavement mix designs, finding that incorporation of HDPE improved mechanical performance and durability while reducing landfill waste and energy consumption in the concrete sector.

2025 Processes
Article Tier 2

Durability and Aging Characteristics of Sustainable Paving Mixture

Researchers incorporated shredded low-density polyethylene plastic waste into asphalt paving mixtures, testing the durability and aging characteristics of the resulting material. Reusing waste plastic in road construction is one approach to reducing the plastic that otherwise enters the environment and breaks down into microplastics.

2021 International Journal of Engineering 6 citations
Article Tier 2

A Comprehensive Review on the Use of Polyethylene Waste in Hot Mix Asphalt: Material Properties, Performance Enhancement, and Sustainability Perspectives

This review examines the use of low-density and high-density polyethylene waste as modifiers in hot mix asphalt, finding that PE incorporation can improve binder performance and pavement durability while diverting plastic waste from landfills. The authors assess material properties, environmental benefits, and economic considerations, positioning plastic-modified asphalt as a viable circular economy approach in road construction.

2025 Journal of Engineering
Article Tier 2

Performance of Asphalt Concrete Pavement Reinforced with High-Density Polyethylene Plastic Waste

Researchers found that incorporating high-density polyethylene plastic waste into asphalt concrete at 5% by aggregate weight produced the best performance, improving resilient modulus, fatigue resistance, and pavement lifespan while saving 67.85 kg CO2-equivalent per cubic meter compared to conventional pavement.

2022 Infrastructures 23 citations
Review Tier 2

Waste Plastic in Road Construction, Pathway to a Sustainable Circular Economy: A Review

This review examines existing literature on incorporating waste plastic into road construction, finding that its inclusion can improve pavement performance and durability while offering a pathway to divert non-biodegradable plastic from landfills.

2023 E3S Web of Conferences 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastic Recycling in Asphalt Concrete Pavements: Preliminary Observations from Hawaii’s Pilot Project

This paper presents results from a Hawaii pilot project testing asphalt mixes containing recycled plastic waste, evaluating their pavement performance. Incorporating plastic waste into road surfaces permanently sequesters it, preventing these materials from fragmenting into microplastics in the environment.

2023 2 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Recycled Plastics in Asphalt Mixtures: A Systematic Review of Mechanical Performance, Environmental Impact and Practical Implementation

This systematic review evaluates using recycled plastics in road asphalt as a way to reduce plastic waste. The research found that incorporating recycled plastic can actually improve road durability while diverting waste from landfills. This approach matters for microplastic reduction because it locks plastic into road surfaces rather than allowing it to break down freely in the environment.

2025 Applied Sciences 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Performance and environmental impacts of waste plastic-modified asphalt pavement: a comprehensive review

This review examined recent research on using waste plastic to modify asphalt pavement and found that it generally improves road durability while reducing harmful emissions during production. However, challenges remain around plastic-bitumen compatibility and potential microplastic release during the pavement's lifetime, and the authors call for more standardized environmental assessments to ensure the approach is truly sustainable.

2025 Cleaner Materials 3 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

A systematic review on sustainable utilization of plastic waste in asphalt: assessing environmental and health impact, performance, and economic viability

Researchers systematically reviewed plastic-modified asphalt, finding that while recycled plastic waste can improve road performance in some cases, it also poses environmental health risks through microplastic release, carcinogenic compound emissions, and volatile organic compound off-gassing, with cost-effectiveness varying widely by plastic type and processing method.

2024 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Evaluation of eco-friendly asphalt mixtures incorporating waste plastic aggregates and additives: Magnesium, fly ash, and steel slag

Researchers tested adding waste plastic aggregate (WPA) to asphalt road mixtures at various concentrations, finding that 5% WPA content performs well and meets durability standards while also potentially reducing microplastic generation compared to exposed surface-layer applications. The study suggests recycled plastic can be practically incorporated into road construction to divert plastic waste from landfills.

2023 Case Studies in Construction Materials 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Waste Plastic to Roads – HDPE-modified Bitumen and PET Plastic Fibres for Road Maintenance in South Africa: A Review

This study evaluated waste plastic incorporation into road materials, testing HDPE-modified bitumen and PET plastic fibers as road material additives and assessing mechanical performance and durability compared to conventional asphalt.

2024 Waste Management & Research The Journal for a Sustainable Circular Economy 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Engineering properties, microplastics and emissions assessment of recycled plastic modified asphalt mixtures

Researchers evaluated the mechanical performance and environmental impact of adding recycled low-density polyethylene and commingled plastics to hot-mix asphalt, finding reduced moisture resistance but also assessing microplastic release and emissions from these recycled plastic-modified road materials.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 42 citations
Article Tier 2

Recent advances in the construction of sustainable asphalt roads with recycled plastic

This review examines the growing use of recycled plastics in road asphalt, tracing the practice back to the 1980s and identifying key challenges around performance, durability, and the risk of microplastic release from plastic-modified road surfaces. The authors conclude that while promising for waste reduction, more research is needed on long-term environmental impacts.

2022 Polymer International 45 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastic Road: A Sustainable Innovation in Civil Engineering

This study examines plastic roads as a civil engineering innovation that incorporates shredded plastic waste into asphalt mixtures as a partial bitumen substitute or aggregate modifier, assessing improvements to road durability and cost-effectiveness while addressing plastic waste accumulation. The review finds that plastic incorporation enhances structural performance and provides an environmentally beneficial disposal pathway for plastic waste.

2025 International Journal of Advanced Research in Science Communication and Technology
Article Tier 2

Investigation of the rheological properties of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) modified bitumens using two plastic wastes

Researchers modified road bitumen with low-density polyethylene (LDPE) plastic waste to improve its performance characteristics. The LDPE-modified bitumen showed improved rheological properties, demonstrating a practical use for plastic waste in road construction that could divert it from landfills and waterways.

2023 Sigma Journal of Engineering and Natural Sciences – Sigma Mühendislik ve Fen Bilimleri Dergisi 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Recycling/reuse of plastic waste as construction material for sustainable development: a review

Researchers reviewed how waste plastic can be incorporated into construction materials — as binders, aggregates, or cement substitutes in bricks, tiles, concrete, and roads — finding that plastic-modified materials often show competitive strength properties while simultaneously diverting plastic waste from landfills.

2021 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 264 citations
Article Tier 2

Recycling micro polypropylene in modified hot asphalt mixture

This study incorporated recycled polypropylene microplastics into hot asphalt mixtures and evaluated the resulting performance, finding that small additions of plastic waste can improve certain mechanical properties of asphalt while offering a pathway to reuse plastic waste in road construction.

2023 Scientific Reports 26 citations
Article Tier 2

Investigating the Potential Release of Microplastics from Recycled Plastic Modified Asphalt Pavement

Researchers investigated whether microplastics are released from recycled plastic-modified asphalt pavement, examining the potential for road surfaces incorporating plastic waste to become a secondary source of microplastic pollution in surrounding environments.

2025
Article Tier 2

Incorporating Waste Plastics into Pavement Materials: A Review of Opportunities, Risks, Environmental Implications, and Monitoring Strategies

This review examines the opportunities and risks of incorporating waste plastics into pavement construction materials, critically assessing performance benefits, environmental implications including microplastic release, and future directions for sustainable integration of plastic waste in road infrastructure.

2025 Applied Sciences
Systematic Review Tier 1

The Use of Waste Polymers in Asphalt Mixtures: Bibliometric Analysis and Systematic Review

This systematic review examines how waste plastics can be recycled into asphalt road mixtures, potentially reducing plastic waste in the environment. Researchers found that adding polymer waste to asphalt can actually improve road durability while diverting plastics from landfills and waterways. This matters because reducing plastic waste at the source is one way to lower the amount of microplastics that eventually break down and enter our food and water.

2023 Journal of Composites Science 30 citations
Article Tier 2

Utilization of Plastic Waste in Road Paver Blocks as a Construction Material

Researchers evaluated the use of recycled plastic waste in road paver blocks in India, finding that incorporating recycled plastic improved block strength and weather resistance compared to conventional materials, offering a construction application for plastic waste.

2023 CivilEng 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Paving the road to a circular economy: Analysis of microplastic and plastic additive leachates from asphalt containing recycled plastics in Hawai'i

Researchers conducted the first in-depth analysis of microplastic and plastic additive leaching from asphalt pavement containing recycled post-industrial high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic on O'ahu, Hawai'i, testing three asphalt mixes and finding that recycled-plastic-modified asphalt released measurable microplastics and chemical additives into leachate.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Effects of marine microplastics on the mechanical performance of bituminous binder for road asphalt pavements

Researchers investigated the effects of marine-sourced microplastics as additives in bituminous binders used for road asphalt pavements, finding that incorporating marine microplastics into bitumen improved mechanical road performance while simultaneously providing a recycling pathway for plastic waste collected from marine environments.

2025 Transportation research procedia
Article Tier 2

Recent Advances in Polymer-Modified and Plastic-Reinforced Asphalt: A Comprehensive Review of Performance, Rheology, and Sustainability

Researchers reviewed recent developments in polymer-modified and plastic-reinforced asphalt systems, synthesising findings on performance enhancement, rheological behaviour, and sustainability implications of incorporating recycled plastics and polymer modifiers into asphalt binders and mixtures.

2025 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)