Characterization of Bitumen Mixed with Plastic Waste

Plastic (Polyethylene Terephthalate, PET) is now used as packaging material for a whole range of consumer products in addition to carbonated beverages. Although plastics are very useful product, but the disposal of these wastes has become a problem and is of great concern, particularly in our country. One of the solutions to the disposal of plastic wastes is recycling it into useful products such as it may be used in bituminous (asphaltic) pavements construction, resulting in reduced permanent deformation in the form of rutting of the pavement surface. The present study discusses in detail about the effect of PET on various engineering properties of bitumen. The PET waste was added in the bitumen from 2 to 14% and various tests such as penetration, ductility, softening point, viscosity, flash and fire point and stripping tests were performed for the characterization of plain bitumen and PET modified bitumen. The most effective percentage of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) waste was obtained between 10 to 12% by weight of the bitumen. The results of the study indicated that the modified mixture possessed better performance as compared to the non-modified bitumen. The experimental results were also authenticated by conducting Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) on the most effective percentages mixtures. It is observed that the addition of PET waste in the bitumen improves its engineering properties such as ductility, penetration, softening point and viscosity values by 32.43%, 14.56%, 26%, and 34% respectively. It has also been observed that addition of 12% PET waste results in zero percent stripping even after 48 hours.