Sustainable Pavement Construction: A Systematic Literature Review of Environmental and Economic Analysis of Recycled Materials

Large amounts of waste from homes, businesses, industries, and construction have led to serious environmental problems.One way to manage this waste and support sustainability in infrastructure is by using recycled materials instead of new ones in road construction.However, there are still questions about the environmental and economic effects of using waste-based materials in pavements.To understand these effects, researchers use two main methods: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA).LCA measures the environmental impact of materials over their entire life cycle, while LCCA evaluates the costs involved from production to disposal.Although many studies have been conducted on pavement materials, the effects of certain recycled materials-such as recycled concrete aggregates, lignin, waste plastic, recycled glass, crushed brick, and crumb rubber-are not yet well understood.This research reviews the current knowledge on these selected recycled materials in pavement construction and points out the limitations in existing environmental and economic studies.There is a growing interest in recycling materials, and it is important to analyze their sustainability.However, the results show that sustainability studies on these materials are still in the early stages, and there are many inconsistencies, making it difficult to compare findings.Additionally, many studies do not consider the long-term effects of these materials, such as maintenance, usage, and end-of-life processes.This creates uncertainty