Influence of pet waste on the properties of asphalt concrete

As a result of the rapid growth of the world and the rapid development of technology, plastic materials which are easy to manufacture have become widely used. As a result of the use of plastics, the amount of waste has been greatly increased and these materials have been recycled. Plastic wastes can be reused in various sectors. PET bottles cause environmental pollution and do not dissolve in nature for a long time. Most of the roads in our country and in the world consist of bituminous pavements (bituminous hot mixture). Maintenance costs of these deteriorated roads are quite high. Bituminous mixtures containing waste plastic can solve this problem by extending the life of the roads. In this study, waste PET bottles were used in asphalt and their effects on asphalt were investigated. In order to remove plastic wastes from nature and recycle them, these wastes were added to asphalt concrete and the coating was thought to have better physical and mechanical properties. In the experimental study, the ground pet bottle wastes have been added to the asphalt mixture in the ratios determined as 0.3%, 0.4%, 0.5%, and 0.6% of the total mixture weight. Marshall Design method was used to find the optimum bitumen ratio with and without additives. Marshall Samples were prepared according to the binder layer aggregate gradation as specified in the Highways Technical Specification (KTŞ). In experiments, 50/70 penetrated bitumen was used at a mixture temperature of 145 °C. According to the test results, it has been observed that the use of PET bottle waste in asphalt mixtures improved the mechanical properties of the asphalt considerably.