Recycled-plastic pavement proves resilience under extreme weather and heavy truck traffic
May 25, 2023 | Environmental Lab
A groundbreaking asphalt pavement formulated with recycled plastic at Highway 99 in California was able to withstand heavy truck traffic, extreme weather conditions such as the winter of late 2022 to early 2023, and a heavy flooding in January this year.
The asphalt mixture technology came from a research at the University of Nevada and its Western Regional Superpave Center, in collaboration with Granite Construction and Caltrans project.
The pavement is mixed with an innovative asphalt binder blend that utilize plastic from single source and used cartridge toner named as “MTP” or modified toner polymer.This is a new approach in contrast to traditional mixture of aggregates– crushed rocks, gravel and sand– which suppose use a petroleum-sourced asphalt binder.
Toner power and cartridges which are commonly classified as electronic waste, is usually difficult to recycle and contributes to annual 9,000 to more than 25,000 tons of waste in the Untied States.