A Brief Review: Application of Recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate in Asphalt Pavement Reinforcement

Abstract

Plastic is considered one of the most significant industrial inventions of this era due to its excellent properties, which lend well to many manufacturing applications. These days, there are tons of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) waste products that are generated around the world. This waste presents a real environmental hazard because PET is not biodegradable. This paper delineates the physical and chemical properties of PET to justify its use as an additive and aggregate replacement in the manufacture of asphalt mixtures. Furthermore, discusses details of PET-modified asphalt mixture by a dry and wet process with sufficient information to better understand the mixture. Several critical matters are investigated, such as asphalt modification to increase resistance to fatigue, rutting deformation, and moisture sensitivity. These results are important for determining the factors that significantly improve pavement mixture characteristics. The findings show that the addition of PET to asphalt mixtures yielded very promising results. PET enhanced the mechanical properties, the durability, and the long-term sustainability of the pavement. Finally, using PET waste as an additive in asphalt mixtures could serve as an environmentally friendly method to dispose of PET waste while simultaneously producing high-quality pavements.