Abstract Manager

Post-industrial multi-layer plastic packaging (MPP) products face numerous challenges to their successful recycling or reuse. However, the presence of valuable polymers in MPP makes it a promising candidate for utilizing this recycled material stream in flexible pavements. This presents a feasible route towards greater sustainability and enhanced performance while alleviating the burden upon industrial waste streams. This study evaluates moderate to high-concentration MPP-modified asphalt mixtures produced from a small-scale plant trial. MPP-modified mixes exhibit different workability characteristics that change with temperature compared with conventional HMA. Understanding the workability of MPP-modified mixes plays a key role in the successful implementation of this technology. This aspect is typically overlooked at the laboratory scale as the mixes are produced under ideal conditions. The results of the study indicate that although high-concentration MPP-modified mixes can meet the general design requirements, mix workability can govern the maximum practical dosage for scaling up the technology. Based on the results, workability and compaction testing should be supplemented with asphalt mix performance testing, including cracking resistance, rutting resistance and stripping susceptibility tests, to further characterize the longer-term behaviour of MPP-modified asphalt mixes.