Mix plastics with asphalt for roads?

[kadee79]

Va. is trying this...and I hope it works as it would help solve several problems at once...

Virginia is testing out advanced road surfaces that promise to lower costs and dispose of old plastic.

It’s happening on Old Stage Road, in Chester, Virginia, where two mile-long sections of the road, which were paved in September, contain two types of recycled plastic waste.

The modified asphalt provides a better road surface, reduces cost and gets rid of waste plastic, said Toby McCartney, CEO of Scotland-based plastic road company MacRebur, which was involved in part of the project.

He said specific types of plastics must be used along with an activator. “It’s not just a case of chucking in any old plastics,” he said.

“In my opinion, I do see promising performance; however there is a lot to learn still,” said Jhony Habbouche, a senior research scientist at the Virginia Transportation Research Council, which is the research division of the Virginia Department of Transportation. “This project started five months ago and is expected to last for years.”

wtop.com/virginia/2022/03/virginia-mixes-old-plastic-into-new-stretches-of-road/

[Tiny]

That sounds pretty cool.   I realize they are in the "research" phase.   

I wish there was more info in the article about what types of plastic is used (is it pop bottles or something else?) 
    
And how it effects the "recyclable"ness of old asphalt.


asphalt has some pluses:  

Old asphalt is usually sorted and processed, so it can be used for other paving jobs. Asphalt that has been reclaimed from an old project can be converted into an aggregate mixture that is used to create new asphalt. Thus, old asphalt is a valuable, eco-friendly material that has a multitude of uses.

If the modified asphalt needs to go to the landfill after one use  - that doesn't really seem to solve a problem... everything still winds up in a landfill... 

[Lizard Queen]

I dunno.  I guess I don't know that much about plastic because my impression is that it would get too slippery, brittle and generally too weak.

[djAdvocate]

they are both petroleum products (generally speaking), so it might work.

[toomuchreality]

Interesting. Very interesting, to me.