Eco-Friendly Infrastructure Development: Employing Plastic Waste for Road Development: A Review

The issue of plastic waste creation is an environmental problem on a global scale. The current review collects literature regarding the use of plastic waste in road construction and its impact on ecological benefit and pavement performance. It has been noted that the introduction of plastic waste in bituminous mixtures enhances their binding properties, stability, density and water resistance while the replacement of traditional aggregates by plastic-coated ones and the application of modified bitumen enhances the roads limiting the emergence of potholes. The optimum percentage of plastic waste to be added varies from 5 to 15% by weight of bitumen based on the type of plastic and mix design. Coating plastic waste on aggregates has been shown to assist in increasing the bitumen-aggregate bond, reducing void content, increasing pavement life, decreasing the reliance on bitumen and improving resistance to heat and moisture degradation. This strategy resolves problems of plastic waste management and contributes to sustainable infrastructure advancement. However, there are still obstacles in the way of bringing the concept to practical applications segregate, automate and monitor the performance over time. It would be more beneficial for the future research to address smoothing and low temperature rutting effects of plastic waste, recyclable asphalt mixtures, and efficient production methods.