A Study on the Environmental Performance of an Asphalt Mixture Modified with Directly Added Waste Plastic

The environmental pollution caused by waste plastics has raised widespread concern within the global academic community. The use of waste plastic in road construction is seen as a future trend for road materials, offering benefits such as energy conservation, pollution reduction, and the enhanced high-temperature performance of asphalt mixtures. However, conventional testing methods have limited the scope of performance measurements for modified asphalt mixtures, and fewer studies have explored the pavement performance of such mixtures. This study evaluated the environmental performance of asphalt mixtures modified with waste plastics. A series of experiments, including rutting tests, low-temperature bending tests, water stability tests, and aging tests, demonstrated that the use of waste plastic-modified asphalt significantly improved high-temperature performance. Notably, with transition dispersants, the rutting resistance improved by 24.5%, and the low-temperature bending strength increased by 15.8%, demonstrating excellent anti-aging properties. Statistical analysis indicated that waste plastic-modified asphalt has superior high-temperature stability and good low-temperature crack resistance.