Road Construction Using Plastic Waste: A Research Paper

This research paper proposes the use of plastic waste in road construction to improve mechanical characteristics and reduce waste disposal. It reviews the process of modifying waste plastics with bitumen to attain a more water-resistant road surface, high density, stability, and better binding property.

PRESENTATION ON THE ROAD CONSTRUCTION
USING PLASTIC WASTE
A Research Paper on Construction By
Student’s Name
Name of the Professor
Institutional Affiliation
City/State
Year/Month/Day

INTRODUCTION
This research paper is a project proposal for the road construction
using plastic waste which is made entirely by the composites of
plastics or plastic wastes.
The growth in population, technological, consumerism, and
industrialization development have resulted in the uncontrolled plastic
waste accumulation.
Proper disposal of waste is of great significance in both urban and
rural regions. This paper proposes the suitability of the plastic waste
materials for the construction of roads.
 The rate of plastic waste production has tremendously increased in
numerous countries globally in the past few decades

Aim and Objectives
The main aim of this research paper is to propose the use of the plastic
waste in the construction of roads to replace the commonly used
conventional bitumen so as to improve the mechanical characteristics of
the road and also reduce the disposal of waste plastics in the environment.
The research also seeks to review how the waste plastics can be modified
together with bitumen so as to attain a more water resistant road surface,
high density, stability, and better binding property.

Background
More than 7.2 million tonnes of waste materials are generated and then
disposed into the environment yearly making the disposal of waste to be a
major problem since approximately one kilometer of the load is needed for
the purposes of waste disposal yearly.
Industries also dispose of more than 150 million tonnes of waste materials
that are hazardous yearly which are majorly disposed of in an open section of
the environment.
Currently, all the vital sectors in the economy beginning with communication,
building construction, electrical, electronics, automobile, packaging, and
agriculture have revolutionized through the application of plastic materials

PLASTIC MANAGEMENT PROCESS

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
There have been numerous experiments conducted to investigate the
possibilities of using the plastic waste materials in the construction of roads.
According to the researchers who performed these experiments, the waste
plastics are the major problems facing any economy and also the deterioration
of road quality was noted to be of great concern.

Sample Questionnaire

Interviews
The key stakeholder was contacted after being identified through formal phone
calls and emails.
The questions for the interviews were based on the conducted primary research
on the application of plastic wastes from the construction of roads.
The quantitative and qualitative information collected through semi-structured
and structured interviews during the field visit were analyzed and transcribed
subsequently.
Secondary Research
The secondary research involved visiting the construction sites and interacting
with the stakeholders and participants involved in the road construction using
the plastic wastes.
The aim of the secondary research was to gather quantitative and qualitative
data together with the supporting documents.

LITERATURE REVIEW
One of the ways of waste plastics management is through using them as
construction materials for roads and pavements which serves the two purposes
of resolving the environmental issues as a result of the increase in waste
plastics and also the durability and stability of the roads.
One must be familiar with the specific properties of materials and the
processes involved in the construction of roads so as to understand the role of
waste plastics in construction.

Since the construction of plastic roads is the relatively new idea in the
construction sector, the process of construction may vary depending on the
type of Construction Company.
There are numerous applications of the disposed of plastic materials and the
first step in the construction of roads include the management and collection
of the plastic components from the disposal sites.
The plastic materials that can be used in the construction of these roads are
majorly composed of post-consumer products like product packaging.
Some of the commonly used types of plastics in packaging include low and
high-density polyethene, polypropylene, and polyethylene terephthalate.
These plastic wastes are first sorted from other solid waste products and then
cleaning, drying, and shredding processes can be carried out

PROJECT ANALYSIS
This section analyzes the anticipated problems with the data collection,
identification of the analytical tools for solving problems such as faulty
questionnaires, interviewer bias, and triangulation of data.
Some of the participants are expected to refuse to speak against their
organisation especially on the negative aspects regarding their organizations.
The qualitative research method did not allow full measurement of the
examined problems.
There is also the problem of social desirability which means interviewees give
the most acceptable reply socially to a question instead of the absolute truth.
 There is also a need for training examiners and the required time to carry out
the interviews is expected to be the financial disadvantage during the process of
data collection

There are also likely to the problems relating to translation since some
interviewees speak other languages and certain expressions and words need to
be interpreted differently in English.
These are because there are numerous international construction companies
working in the country and their workers may not be very fluent in the local
language making it difficult to interview them without a translator.
The researcher may not be able to verify if the translations are according to the
exact words and important information may have been lost during translation.
Further, privacy and freedom from distraction can also be a problem during
interviews.
Interviewing in public at the construction site also pose a challenge since such
places may be noisy and uncomfortable

This will enhance the dependability and conformability of the research.
The researcher should be aware that using the right data collecting techniques
such as group discussions, interviews and questionnaires are sufficient to build
a case for credibility.
It is in view of the above that the writer should adopt the above methods so as
to solve the problems of faulty questionnaires, bias interviewers, and data
triangulation.
The researcher should use the right research approach and techniques suitable
for the project bearing in mind that reliability of the research depends upon the
analytical ability of the researcher and the quality of data collected.

PROJECT REFLECTION
Benefits
The major benefits of using the plastic waste in road construction are the
inculcation of waste segregation culture.
The plastic roads are expected to use the PET bottles, disposable cups, and
carry bags which are collected from disposal sites such as garbage sites and
used as ingredients of the construction materials.
The plastic wastes will significantly reduce when all the construction industries
adopt this method of road construction hence resulting in low air pollution,
health hazardous, blockage of drainage systems, and low soil pollution

Drawbacks
The major shortcoming faced by the plastic roads is that these roads are
normally affected by the temperature frequency of 50oC and also torrential
rains may also result in havoc resulting in the roads developing potholes.
Burning of these plastic wastes during the heating process also causes
environmental pollution due to the smoke emitted into the atmosphere.
The plastic components such as polyurethane, urea formaldehyde, silicon,
phenolic formaldehyde, melamine formaldehyde, ester, epoxy, and alkyd
contains HCL gas which when released into the atmospheres, there react with
the rainwater to cause acid rain.

CONCLUSION
This research paper is a project proposal for the road construction using plastic
waste which is made entirely by the composites of plastics or plastic wastes.
 The research also reviews how the waste plastics can be modified together
with bitumen so as to attain a more water resistant road surface, high density,
stability, and better binding property.
The application of waste plastics as a construction material is becoming more
acceptable because of the improved properties if the materials.
This method uses modified bitumen with the addition of processed waste
plastics of approximately 10% by the weight of bitumen and helps in the
substantial improvement of the fatigue life, strength, Marshall Stability, and the
performance of the road with the significant saving in the usage of bitumen.

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