ducks4you
Almost Self-Reliant
Just read the post "UPCYCLING" and this reminded me to do a search on the use of plastics in road beds. You know how we've been looking at the chart that shows it takes one million years for a plastic bottle to degrade in a landfill? Well, that AND the series "Life After People" got me thinking: WHY don't we use plastic waste to build a road? I didn't have to look far to find this:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3724/is_n2_v58/ai_16340226/
**Warning: THIS site is corrupted and will create an error if you look at it. Still, I was able to copy most of their article
"Plastics
Plastics comprise more than 8 percent of the total weight of the municipal waste stream and about 12 to 20 percent of its volume. (1, 10, 11) In 1992,approximately 14.7 million t (16.2 million T) of plastics were discarded in the United States; only 0.3 million t (0.33 million T) -- or 2.2 percent -- were recycled.
Current research on the use of recycled plastics in highway construction is wide and varied. The use of virgin polyethylene as an additive to asphaltic concrete is not new; however, two new processes also use recycled plastic as an asphalt cement additive:
NOVOPHALT [R] and Polyphalt [R]. (1, 11, 12) These latter two processes both use recycled low-density polyethylene resin, which is generally obtained from plastic trash and sandwich bags. The recycled plastic is made into pellets and added to asphalt cement at a rate of 4 to 7 percent by weight of binder (0.25 percent to 0.50 percent by weight of total mix). (11, 12)
Michigan State University is looking into the use of recycled plastic in portland cement concrete. In this study, recycled high-density polyethylene (HDPE) was used to replace from 20 to 40 percent of fine aggregate by volume (7.5 to 15 percent by total volume) in a lightweight concrete mix. Compressive strengths were reduced when either level of HDPE was used. Overall flexural strengths remained fairly constant and the impact resistance of the concrete, which can be related to flexural toughness, increased."
http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/fall94/p94au32.htm
"As the world population grows, so do the amount and type of waste being generated. Many of the wastes produced today will remain in the environment for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years. The creation of nondecaying waste materials, combined with a growing consumer population, has resulted in a waste disposal crisis. One solution to this crisis lies in recycling waste into useful products.
Research into new and innovative uses of waste materials is continually advancing. Many highway agencies, private organizations, and individuals have completed or are in the process of completing a wide variety of studies and research projects concerning the feasibility, environmental suitability, and performance of using recycled products in highway construction. (1) These studies try to match society's need for safe and economic disposal of waste materials with the highway industry's need for better and more cost-effective construction materials.
This article summarizes current research on those waste materials that have shown promise as a substitute for conventional materials. (See table 1.) It primarily focuses on new and innovative highway industry uses for waste materials and byproducts, rather than on more commonly followed practices. "
Recycled Materials in this Table:
--Blast Furnace Slag
--Carpet Fiber Wastes
--Coal Fly Ash
--Coal Bottom Ash or Bottom Slag
--Flue Gas Desulfurization Waste
--Glass
--Mill Tailings
--Municipal Waste Combustion Ash
--Plastic
--Reclaimed Concrete Pavement
--Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement
--Roofing Shingle Waste Industry-Produced Re-roofing Waste
--Scrap Tires
--Steel Slag
--Waste Rock
Pretty neat, huh?
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3724/is_n2_v58/ai_16340226/
**Warning: THIS site is corrupted and will create an error if you look at it. Still, I was able to copy most of their article
"Plastics
Plastics comprise more than 8 percent of the total weight of the municipal waste stream and about 12 to 20 percent of its volume. (1, 10, 11) In 1992,approximately 14.7 million t (16.2 million T) of plastics were discarded in the United States; only 0.3 million t (0.33 million T) -- or 2.2 percent -- were recycled.
Current research on the use of recycled plastics in highway construction is wide and varied. The use of virgin polyethylene as an additive to asphaltic concrete is not new; however, two new processes also use recycled plastic as an asphalt cement additive:
NOVOPHALT [R] and Polyphalt [R]. (1, 11, 12) These latter two processes both use recycled low-density polyethylene resin, which is generally obtained from plastic trash and sandwich bags. The recycled plastic is made into pellets and added to asphalt cement at a rate of 4 to 7 percent by weight of binder (0.25 percent to 0.50 percent by weight of total mix). (11, 12)
Michigan State University is looking into the use of recycled plastic in portland cement concrete. In this study, recycled high-density polyethylene (HDPE) was used to replace from 20 to 40 percent of fine aggregate by volume (7.5 to 15 percent by total volume) in a lightweight concrete mix. Compressive strengths were reduced when either level of HDPE was used. Overall flexural strengths remained fairly constant and the impact resistance of the concrete, which can be related to flexural toughness, increased."
http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/fall94/p94au32.htm
"As the world population grows, so do the amount and type of waste being generated. Many of the wastes produced today will remain in the environment for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years. The creation of nondecaying waste materials, combined with a growing consumer population, has resulted in a waste disposal crisis. One solution to this crisis lies in recycling waste into useful products.
Research into new and innovative uses of waste materials is continually advancing. Many highway agencies, private organizations, and individuals have completed or are in the process of completing a wide variety of studies and research projects concerning the feasibility, environmental suitability, and performance of using recycled products in highway construction. (1) These studies try to match society's need for safe and economic disposal of waste materials with the highway industry's need for better and more cost-effective construction materials.
This article summarizes current research on those waste materials that have shown promise as a substitute for conventional materials. (See table 1.) It primarily focuses on new and innovative highway industry uses for waste materials and byproducts, rather than on more commonly followed practices. "
Recycled Materials in this Table:
--Blast Furnace Slag
--Carpet Fiber Wastes
--Coal Fly Ash
--Coal Bottom Ash or Bottom Slag
--Flue Gas Desulfurization Waste
--Glass
--Mill Tailings
--Municipal Waste Combustion Ash
--Plastic
--Reclaimed Concrete Pavement
--Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement
--Roofing Shingle Waste Industry-Produced Re-roofing Waste
--Scrap Tires
--Steel Slag
--Waste Rock
Pretty neat, huh?
