International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 3, March 2013)

Studies on the Improvement of Characteristics of Bitumen with

Use of Waste Plastic
Sandhya Dixit1, Prof. Deepak Rastogi2
1

Student Scholar, ME Civil, Madhav Institute Of Technology And Science (MITS), Gwalior
Professor Department Of Civil Engineering, Madhav Institute Of Technology And Science (MITS), Gwalior

Disposal of plastic waste, particularly plastic bags are a

menace and has become a serious problem , especially in
urban areas, in terms of its misuse its dumping in the
dustbins, clogging of drains, reduced soil fertility and
aesthetic problems etc.
The phenomenal increase in the volume of vehicular
traffic on our roads, including commercial vehicles
combined with perpetual overloading of transport vehicles
and significant variation in daily and seasonal temperature
in various parts of the country calls for improved
performance of the road pavements and consequently better
quality of bitumen. Modified bitumen obtained through
mixing of elastomeric as well as plastomeric substances
possesses better quality than normal bitumen. Therefore,
there is an urgent need of alternate use of waste in
bituminous mix, to improve the properties of the binder
offers, as such, very promising alternative.
Use of plastic in road construction is not new. It is
already in use as PVC or HDPE pipe mat crossings built by
cabling together PVC (Polyvinyl chloride) or HDPE (High
density polyethylene) pipes to form plastic mats.
Recent studies in this direction have shown some hope
in terms of using plastic waste in road construction, i.e.
plastic roads. The life of Pavement surfacing using the
waste plastic is expected to increase substantially in
comparison the use of conventional bituminous mix. The
laboratory studies conducted by some research institutes
regarding utilization of waste plastic bags in bituminous
mixes have proved that these enhance the properties of
mix. Also the performance tests have proved that the
fatigue life is doubled and resistance to rutting and water
damages increases when plastic waste is used.
Different process, viz. dry and wet process have been
tried out for blending the waste plastic with aggregate and
bitumen. In the dry process, waste plastic is added to
aggregate heated uniformly at a temperature of 155-1630c.
The dry process gives a blend with better binding property,
a larger surface area of aggregate is available for mixing.
Aggregate coated with plastic waste and plain bitumen
show zero stripping even after 72h. Other properties like
soundness, moisture absorption and voids formation are
also minimized and no pot hole formation is observed on
roads processed in this way.

Abstract In India plenty of Industrial waste is generated

by industrial activity, such as that of factories, mills and
mines. In addition to this industrial waste, municipal waste in
the form of garbage containing non-bio degradable materials
is also produced within the municipal limits. This is a major
source of environmental pollution and its proper disposal in
challenging problem in order to safeguard the environment
for future generation.
The use of discarded waste plastics in the road construction
was one or the important steps taken in this direction. Use of
suitable road waste material in the construction of roads in
the country, will not only bring out significant saving on road
material cost, but simultaneously shall help in tackling the
problem of such waste material.
India is far behind the target of road construction of
National Highways, State Highways and village roads. The
dream of connecting every village with a fair weather road in
far distant.
The use of plastic bottles, containers and packing strips is
increasing day by day and disposal is a big problem. Since
these products are non bio degradable, these are likely to
remain in the environment for many years creating
environmental problems and health hazards.
This paper has been developed to discuss in detail as to how
the municipal solid waste can be handled and used
successfully in the construction of roads thus mitigating the
environmental problems and economise the cost of
construction of roads within the country.
Keywords - Bitumen modification with waste plastic,
Improvement in characteristics of bitumen with use of waste
plastic, Plastic waste in road construction, Study on use of
plastic waste in road construction, Uses of plastic waste in
road construction

I. INTROUDUCTION
The growth in various types of industries together with
population growth has resulted in an enormous increase in
production of various types of waste material world over.
The creation and disposal of non-biodegradable waste
materials such as Plastics, Blast Furnace Slag, Fly ash,
Steel Slag, Scrap Tyres etc. have been posing problems in
the developed as well as developing countries. Plastic is
everywhere in todays lifestyle. Use this non-biodegradable
product is growing rapidly and creating the problem of its
disposal.
895

International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 3, March 2013)
In the wet process, shredded waste plastic is mixed with
hot bitumen at a temperature 160 0 c. with the help of
powerful mechanical stirrers. The stabilizers are also added
to the bitumen during heating. The mix is then laid on the
road. In this process, mixing of higher percentages of is
however, difficult because of the difference in viscosities of
molten plastic waste and bitumen.

Modifier- Plastic bag fibers were used as a modifier in

this study. The waste plastic bags were shredded into fibers
of size 20mm x 3mm. The density, melting point and
tensile strength of the fibers were 0.468 g/cc, 168 0 c. and
210 MPa respectively. Fig. 1 shows the plastic fibres.

II. OBJECIVES OF THE STUDY

The present study aimed at preparation of bitumen
modified with waste plastic fibers and to find the variation
of conventional properties. The major objectives of the
study are as follows.
To study the physical properties of neat bitumen and
modified with plastic fibers obtained from waste plastic
bags.
To find out the optimum percentage of waste plastic bag
fibers.
To perform tests on bituminous mixes prepared using the
optimum fibers content calculated.
Fig. 1. Plastic Fibres

III. EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAMME

Aggregates - aggregates were tested for physical

requirements, and test results are shown in the Table II.

A Material
Bitumen - 60/70 and 80/100 penetration grade bitumen
were used for the present study. The physical properties of
bitumen described as IS 73:1992 are given in Table I.

Table - II
Properties of coarse aggregates
Properties

Table I
Physical properties of 60/70 and 80/100 bitumen
Test Result
Designation

Permissible
limits as per IS
73:1992

Test
Method

60/70

80/100

60/70

80/100

Penetration
at 25oc,100g,
5s, d mm

65

89

60-70

80-100

Softening
point. 0c

48

Ductility at
270c cm

100+

100+

75
min.

75 min.

IS
1208:1978

Specific
Gravity 270c,
g/cc

1.010

0.998

0.99
min.

0.99
min.

IS
1202:1978

Flash point,
0
c

285

310

175
min.

175
min.

IS
1209:1978

42

40-55

35-50

Specific Gravity
a) Coarse Agg.
(20mm)
b) Coarse Agg. (10
& 4.75mm)
c) Fine Agg.
Aggregate Impact
value
Los Angeles
Abrasion value
Water Absorption
Combined flakiness
and Elongation Index

IS
1203:1978
IS
1205:1978

IS Test Method

MoRTH
Specification

Result

2.58
2.64
2.72

IS 2386 (IV)

Max 30%

19.42 %

IS 2386 (IV)

Max 30%

24.36 %

IS 2386 (III)
IS 2386 (I)

Max 2%
Max 30%

0.6 %
24 %

B Preparation of Modified Binders

About 350g. of bitumen was heated to 170 0c. to a fluid
condition. The mixing was performed in the laboratory
with a mechanical stirrer at a frequency of 1550 rpm. After
the mixing temperature was reached, 0.1 percent fiber by
weight of binder was added slowly in order to avoid
agglomeration of the material. The typical time used for
preparation of the blend was 1 hour. After the blend was
prepared, it was allowed to settle for 1 hour. Similar
procedure was adopted for other proportion of mixes. The
percentage of modifier varied from 0.1% to 0.9%.
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C Test results and discussions
Different percentages of modifier (waste plastic fibers)
added to 60/70 and 80/100 grades of bitumen affected the
physical properties of the binder in terms of penetration,
softening point, ductility and Specific Gravity which is
presented in Table III.

Ductility test results

The binders possessing high ductility have good
cementing qualities in the road surface and adhere well to
aggregates. It may be seen that he ductility values for
80/100 and 60/70 bitumen modified with 0.7, 0.8 percent
and 0.9 percent modifiers are very low compared to
original binders. The ductility values decrease with
increase in percentage of modifier, but the rate of decrease
is less when added beyond 0.5 percent. The ductility value
less than 50cm (80/100 modified with 0.5 to 0.9 percent
fibres and 60/70 modified with 0.4 to 0.9 percent fibres)
should not be used in road constructions, but may be used
as crack and joint filler materials.

Table III
Bituminous Binder
+ % Modifier
60/70 Bitumen
60/70 + 0.1%
60/70 + 0.2%
60/70 + 0.3%
60/70 + 0.4%
60/70 + 0.5%
60/70 + 0.6%
60/70 + 0.7%
60/70 + 0.8%
60/70 + 0.9%
80/100 Bitumen
80/100 + 0.1%
80/100 + 0.2%
80/100 + 0.3%
80/100 + 0.4%
80/100 + 0.5%
80/100 + 0.6%
80/100 + 0.7%
80/100 + 0.8%
80/100 + 0.9%

Penetration
(dmm)
65.5
60.0
58.0
54.5
53.0
52.0
50.5
49.0
42.0
36.5
89.0
85.5
83.0
81.5
77.5
73.0
68.0
65.0
59.0
55.0

Softening
Point (0c)
48.0
50.0
50.5
51.0
52.0
53.5
55.0
55.5
56.0
58.5
42.0
42.0
43.5
44.0
45.5
47.0
47.0
47.5
48.5
49.5

Ductility
(cm)
100
87
70
56
49
42
39
30
28
25
100
91
84
65
55
46
43
38
36
35

Specific
gravity
1.010
1.014
1.018
1.021
1.022
1.028
1.031
1.037
1.040
1.042
0.998
1.002
1.008
1.010
1.010
1.016
1.021
1.025
1.028
1.032

Specific gravity test results

Higher Penetration grade bitumen and cut back bitumen
have lower range specific gravity values. In case the
bitumen contains mineral impurity, the specific gravity will
be higher. It may be observed that he specific gravity
values increase significantly by modifying the bitumen.
The values for neat 60/70 and 80/100 bitumen are 1.010
and 0.998 respectively which increases to 1.042 and 1.032
after 0.9% modification.
The effective utilization of the waste plastic bags for the
preparation of modified bitumen will result in substantial
increase in the scrap value for this otherwise undesirable
waste material. These waste plastic bags will not,
therefore be thrown out along with the garbage instead they
will get collected and sold by the consumers themselves or
other agencies, due to the attractive scrap value. Polymer
coated aggregates blended with bitumen also show higher
Marshall value and better stripping values, thereby
indicating that the mix is more suited for road laying.
The durability of the roads laid out with shredded plastic
waste is much more compared with these asphalted 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 also.
Rainwater will not seep through because of the plastic in
the tar which will result in lesser road repairs. 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.
Considering the improvements as outlined before, the
salient features of the waste plastic-bitumen mix road may
be categorized as under:-

Penetration Test Results

The Penetration values are decreasing significantly when
60/70 and 80/100 bitumen are mixed with the modifier and
this variation is much more in 80/100 modified bitumen.
When 0.6 percent of modifier is added to 80/100 grade, the
penetration decreases, and this is equal to the 60/70 grade
bitumen. Thus there is a significant decrease in penetration
values for modified blends, indication the improvement in
their temperature susceptibility resistant characteristics.
Softening point test results
The softening point increase in percentage of modifiers
and this is so because the bitumen becomes increasingly
viscous. Softening point for 60/70 bitumen increase to
more than 550c by addition of 0.7, 0.8 and 0.9 percent
fibers. Therefore 0.6 percent should be the upper limit for
60/70 bitumen. The results show that 80/100 and 60/70
bitumen modified with lower percentage of plastic fibers
can be used in road construction satisfactorily, but with
higher modification i.e. 0.7 percent to 0.9 percent should
not be used in road construction, but may be used as a
roofing material.

897

International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 3, March 2013)
Higher strength
Resistances towards water stagnation, i.e. no potholes
are formed.
Less bleeding during the summer
Higher marshal stability
Burning of plastic waste could be avoided
It does not involve any extra machinery
Lower maintenance costs
Reduction in consumption of bituminous mix and
No toxic gas emissions
Plastic roads would be a boon for Indias hot and
extremely humid climate where temperatures frequently
cross 500c and torrential rains create havoc, leaving most of
the roads with big potholes. This technology would help to
produce better roads with longer service life and would also
be economical as there would be considerable savings in
the ever increasing cost of bitumen.

During the process the materials got mixed at; (1) at the
tipper (2) During the transfer form tipper to paver and (3)
by the pavers during spreading for road laying. This
ensures better distribution of plastics and help better
binding.
V. MARSHALL TEST RESULTS ON BITUMINOUS MIXES.
The Marshall stability is a measure of structural strength
of a bituminous mix. Higher the stability of the mix, greater
will be the strength of surfacing. From the values given in
table IV, it can be seen that the Marshall stability increases
from 920 Kg to 1000 Kg when the bitumen content is
increased from 5 percent to 5.5 % and then it decreases to a
value of 890 Kg. at 6% bitumen content. The increase in
stability is due to the improvements in the physical
properties of bitumen and the coating of the aggregates
with the plastic fibres. The Optimum Binder Content
(OBC) was found to be 5.4% , Marshall test was also
conducted on bituminous mixes prepared with 0% fibre
content. Here also, the Marshall stability increased with an
increase in the bitumen content. At 5.4% bitumen content
and 0.5% fibre, the value of Marshall Stability is 995 Kg.
whereas it is 980 Kg. for an unmodified mix. Thus a higher
value is obtained for modified mix at compared to an
unmodified one. Gt

IV. ROAD CONSTRUCTION SCENARIO

Process of construction of flexible pavement:
Process 1:
The roads were laid using both mini hot mix plant and
central mixing plant. The aggregate mix prepared as per
IRC specification, was heated in the cylindrical drum to
1700 degrees. It was then transferred to the pudding
compartment where the plastic waste size between 1.18
mm and 4.36 mm was added. As the temperature of the
aggregate were around 1700c and the softening temperature
of plastic waste using quantitatively was around 135 0c the
plastic waste got softened and got coated over the
aggregate within 30 to 45 seconds. Immediately the hot
bitumen 60/70 grade was added and mixed in the pudding
chamber. The bitumen got coated over the aggregates. As
the plastics and the bitumen were in the liquid state they
got mixed . the mixture was transferred to the road and it
was spread and compacted using 8 ton roller.

Table IV
Marshall Test Results on Modified Bituminous Mixes

Process 2:
For the construction of long distance roads it is very
important that the plastics coated aggregate should be tried
with central mixing plant. This was successfully tried at
Salem, Tanjore, Mumbai, Trisool and Madurai.
Unising a mechanical device the plastics waste was
mixed with the aggregate at the cylindrical drum before the
addition of bitumen. This was done at Trisool, Chennai in
the presence of DRDA Engineers.
The material collected at the tipper was uniform and had
a temperature of 140o C . this was transported to the spot
and the road was laid using paver and 8 ton roller. The
spreading was good and the laying was easy.
898

Properties

Sample1
5.0

Sample
2
5.5

Sample
3
6.0

Sample
4
5.0

Sample
5
5.4

Bitumen
Content (%)
Fibre Content
(%)
Thickness
(mm) 68.5
Weight in air
(g) 1300
Weight
in
water (g)
Marshall
Stability (Kg)
Flow
Value
(mm) 2.8
Theoretical
Specific
Gravity,
Gt
(g/cc)
Bulk Specific
Gravity
Gb
(g/cc)
VMA (%)
VFB (%)
Air Voids Vv
(%)

0.5

0.5

0.5

67.0

66.5

66.5

67.0

1000

1295

1270

1100

755

745

755

735

645

920

1000

890

850

980

3.1

3.5

2.6

3.0

2.519

2.502

2.485

2.513

2.499

2.385

2.419

2.398

2.374

2.418

16.35
70.56
5.32

15.56
67.46
3.32

18.68
74.66
3.50

16.73
66.86
5.53

15.50
79.08
3.24

International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

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The properties of bitumen can be enhanced by adding

VI. ECONOMIC ANALYSES

small amounts of the modifier. Therefore modified

bituminous materials can bring real benefits to
highway construction, maintenance, in terms of better
and longer lasting roads, and savings in total road life
costing.

A huge quantity of plastic waste have been used as

modifying agents. However, the high cost of these
polymers compared to bitumen means that the amount of
polymer needed to improve pavement performance should
be as small as possible. This major restriction could be
avoided by using waste materials like plastics. From an
environmental and economic standpoint, the use of waste
plastic fiberes as a bitumen-modifying agent may
contribute to solving a waste disposal problem and to
improving the quality of road pavements.

REFERENCES
[1 ] IRC:SP:53 2002, Guidelines on use Polymer and Rubber Modified
Bitumen in Road Construction, Indian Road Congress, New Delhi.
[2 ] IS: 15462 2004,Polymer and Rubber Modified Bitumen
Specification, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi.
[3 ] Jew, P. and Woodhams, R. T.1986, PE Modified Bitumens for
Paving Applications, Proceedings of the Association of Asphalt
Paving Technologists, Vol. 55, pp. 541-563.
[4 ] Lenoble, C. and Nahas, N.C. 1994, Dynamic Rheology and Hot
Mix Performance of PMA, Journal of Association of Asphalt
Paving Technologists, Vol. 63, pp. 450-475.
[5 ] Mecado, E.A., Martin, A., Spiegelmen, C. and Glover, C.J. 2005,
Factors Affecting Binder Properties between Production and
Construction, Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, ASCE,
Vol. 17, pp. 89-98.
[6 ] Murphy M., Mahony M.O., Lycett C. and Jamieson I 2001,
Recycled Polymers for Use as Bitumen Modifiers, Journal of
Material in Civil Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 13, pp. 252-283.
[7 ] Panda M. and Mazumdar M. 1999, Engineering Properties of EVAModified Bitumen Binder for Paving Mixes, Journal of Materials in
Civil Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 11, pp. 131-137.
[8 ] Qi, X., Sebaaly, P.E. and Epps, J.A. 1995, Evaluation of Polymer
Modified Asphalt Concrete Mixes, Journal of Materials in Civil
Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 7, pp. 117-124.
[9 ] Read J. and Whiteoak D., The shell Bitumen Handbook, Fifth
Edition, Thomas Telford, pp. 60-350.
[10 ] Standard Data Book for Analysis of Rates for Roads 2004, Indian
Roads Congress, New Delhi.
[11 ] Indicative operational Guidelines on construction Polymer Bitumen
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[12 ] Highway Engineering by S K Khanna, CEg Justo, New Chand &
Bros., Roorkee (U.A.), Eighth edition, 2001.
[13 ] Field studies on Flexible Pavement Overlaid using Waste Plastic
Coated Aggregated, National Transport Planning and Research
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[14 ] Manual for the construction and supervision of Bituminous works,
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VII. CONCLUSIONS
The following conclusions are drawn based on the
results obtained tin the present study
The properties of bitumen such as penetration
softening point improved with the addition of the
waste fiber. There is a significant decrease in
penetration values for modified blends, indicating the
improvement in their temperature susceptibility
resistant characteristics.
The softening point increase with increase in
percentage of fibre and this is so because the bitumen
becomes increasingly viscous. The results show that
bitumen modified with lower percentage of fibres can
be used in road construction satisfactorily, but higher
percentage of fibers i.e. more than 0.7 % may be used
as a roofing material.
The ductility value decreases with increase in
percentage of modifier, but the rate of decrease is less
when fiber is added beyond 0.5 percent. The ductility
value less than 50cm should not be used in road
constructions, but may be used as crack and joint
filler materials.
The optimum dose of the fibre was found to be 0.6
percent on the basis of performance grade 70.
From the Marshall test results, it is concluded that the
marshall stability value increases with an increase in
bitumen content from 5% to 5.5% then it decreases.
The optimum binder content was found to be 5.4 %
.Also higher value of Marshall stability was found for
a modified mix as compared to an unmodified one.
From an environmental and economic standpoint, the
use of waste plastic fibres, as a bitumen modifying
agent may contribute to solving a waste disposal
problem and to improving the quality of road
pavements.

899

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[19 ] Dr. R Vasudevan Utilization of waste plastics for flexible
pavement, Indian Highways (Indian Road Congress), (July 2006).
[20 ] Sri Ram Institute for Industrial Research, Plastics Processing and
Environmental Aspects, New Delhi 7.

[21 ] Pavan Kumar & Rashi Garg, Laboratory studies on waste plastic
fiber modified bitumen Highway Research Journal, (Jan-June 2010)
Vol. 3, No. 1.

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