Use of recycled plastic to modify the engineering properties of asphalt binders for road paving

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Winpak is a leading producer and distributor of plastic packaging and packaging machines for the food, beverage and health care industries. Winpak recognizes that more sustainable applications are needed to divert waste plastic from the landfill. Keeping plastic waste out of landfills and bodies of water is a major challenge to Canada and the world. Major plastic manufacturers, including Winpak and their parteners, have committed to improving the sustainability of their products. This has created a strong demand for repurposing plastic waste in new and innovative applications. By incorporating recycled plastics in road structures, there is a potential for diverting significant amounts of waste from the landfill and for developing cheaper and more resilient infrastructure. Recycled plastics may have a range of engineering properties depending on their source, age and composition. These materials when applied in prescribed dosages can increase the tensile and shear strength of asphalt binders and in turn increase the durability of road pavements constructed from these binders. Modifying asphalt binders to extend their properties has been successfully applied using a number of plastic and rubber additives, however the use of recycled plastics as a modifier has not been fully examined due to their varying properties. Performance grading of asphalt binders consists of a set of tests to assess the compatability of an asphalt binder to the climate and traffic levels in a geographic region. To evaluate the impact of recycled plastics on binder properties, various trial blends of asphalt and recycled plastics will be formulated and tested. These blends will be conditioned in the laboratory to simulate the effect of typical construction and field aging processes on their predicted field performance. Through this work we intend to identify potential desirable properties that can be enhanced by the addition of plastic waste.These applications can be commercialized and could help create new business opportunities, and reduce our carbon footprint.