Re-use of Recycled Materials in Construction of Flexible Pavements by using Polymers

Abstract

Bitumen, the sticky, gooey black stuff you sometimes see oozing out of hot road surfaces, is a valuable binding agent used in roads. What we do is collect old materials containing bitumen, most of this material comes from roads. Then, we shred it, heat it, drain off the molten bitumen, and sieve away all contaminants like glass fibers, wood and stones. We then mix the recycled bitumen with just a little bit of virgin bitumen and use the mixture to produce new roads of the same quality

It was quite difficult to control the exact temperature of the melting process. Too high and the bitumen is separated into other chemicals. To low and it does not seep out of the solid materials.  We also had a hard time sieving it since it is really viscous and sticky. But we resolved all that issue and the recycling plant has been in operation since 2008.

It is mostly a matter of money. And that leads to three possible solutions.  First, our recycling process could be subsidized. This is attractive from our point of view.  Second, recycling bituminous materials could be made compulsory. This would probably work, but then you need a controlling system and inspectors. That is expensive. So, probably, the taxpayers would have to come up with the funding.  Third solution, landfilling and burning bitumen in waste-to-energy plants could be taxed. Governments would undoubtedly like that, so policy makers will probably prefer this solution. But sadly it will make the relatively green energy from these plants more expensive.In recent years, applications of plastic wastes have been considered in road construction with great interest in many developing countries. The use of these materials in road making is based on technical, economic, and ecological criteria.