USE OF WASTE PLASTIC IN BITUMINOUS CONCRETE

Bituminous mixes are most widely used all over the world in flexible construction. As we know that plastic cannot be decomposed. It is pavements durable and non-biodegradable, the chemical bonds make plastic durable and resistant to a normal natural process of degradation. Plastics are compounds of carbon and hydrogen known as hydrocarbons. Some properties of plastic include their light weight, high resistance to various chemicals, recyclability, permeability, resistance to breakage, versatility. Plastic is also known as polymers. Indian plastic industry made a beginning in 1957 with a production of polystyrene by commencing production of Polystyrene. The arrangement of manufacture of Indian polymer is summarized as under 1957-polystyrene, 1959-LDPE, 1961-PVC, 1968-HDPE and 1978- Polypropylene. Today in India there are about 22000 plastic processing units and 150 plastic processing machinery manufacturers. The per capita consumption of plastic products in India is growing by 8% GDP growth. Also, considering the environmental approach, the use of plastic is increasing in incredible ways. As we know that plastic cannot be decomposed and this leads to many environmental issues. Therefore it must be utilized by recycling all these wastes for the purpose of laying roads. These wastes consist of plastic bottles; carry bags, cups and other utilized plastic. Bituminous binders are widely used by paving industry. A pavement has different layers. The main constituents of bituminous concrete (BC) are coarse aggregate, fine aggregate and bitumen. Generally, there are two types of pavements based on design considerations, i.e. Flexible and rigid pavements.