Benefits of utilization the recycle polyethylene terephthalate waste plastic materials as a modifier to asphalt mixtures

The polyethylene terephthalate waste plastic materials (PTP) have a negative impact on the environment The reuse of PTP in engineering construction projects such as road pavement may improve the properties of asphalt binder and asphalt mixtures. Therefore, the main aim of this research is to investigate the effect of using PTP on improving the performance and properties of asphalt pavement. Also, it aims to quantify the significant benefits of asphalt modification in the pavement system. The investigation was performed for asphalt binder and asphalt mixtures. The laboratory testing program for the asphalt binder included penetration, softening point, flash point, and absolute viscosity tests. These tests were performed for the unmodified and modified asphalt binder. On the other side, the laboratory asphalt mixtures design tests such as; standard Marshall, indirect tensile and rutting tests were done for unmodified and modified asphalt mixtures. KENPAVE software was used to quantify the benefits of using PTP as a modifier in the pavement system. The results of asphalt binder tests indicated that the addition of this modifier reduced the penetration and increased the softening point of the modified asphalt binder. The results illustrated that the addition of this modifier tended to increase the strength of the asphalt mixtures. The optimized percentage of PTP achieving the better performance of the asphalt mixtures is 12%. Finally, the quantified benefits indicated that addition of 12% of PTP increased the pavement service life 2.81 times and saved about 20% of the asphalt layer thickness. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.