The utilization of waste polyethylene terephthalate (WPET) as aggregate substitutes in pavement has been extensively promoted because of its environmental advantages. However, previous studies have shown that a high percentage of WPET reduces the performance of the pavement. To increase the durability of pavement and mitigate the environmental issues caused by WPET, WPET is treated with gamma-irradiation as a component in asphalt mixtures. The study objectives were to investigate the feasibility of using WPET granules as a sustainable aggregate on asphalt mixture stiffness and rutting and predict the asphalt mixture performance containing irradiated WPET via an RSM-ANN-framework. To achieve the objectives, stiffness and rutting tests were conducted to evaluate the WPET modified mixtures' performance. The result indicated that samples containing 40% irradiated WPET provided a better performance compared to mixtures containing 20% non-irradiated WPET, increasing the stiffness by 27% and 21% at 25 °C and 40 °C, respectively, and rutting resistance by 11% at 45 °C. Furthermore, both predictive models developed demonstrated excellent reliability. The ANN exhibited superior performance than the RSM. The utilization of WPET as aggregate in asphalt mixtures represents a way to addressing related recycling issues while also improving performance. With gamma-irradiation treatment, the utilization of WPET can be increased with improved asphalt mixture performance.
In this study the effect of irradiated and non-irradiated waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET) as replacement of cement and fly-ash in ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and geopolymeric cement (GPC) based cementitious grouts on flexural strength of semi-flexible pavement specimens were evaluated. The porous asphalt gradation was selected based on Malaysian specifications for semi-flexible pavements with a target of 30% air voids. The cement content in the OPC grouts and the fly-ash content in the GPC based grouts were partially replaced with 1.25% PET (using both irradiated and non-irradiated PET). Beam specimens were prepared and tested for flexural strength properties using center point loading configuration. The grouts modified with recycled waste plastic (PET) showed approximately the same results as obtained from the control specimens. Although the replacement amount was low (1.25% by weight of cement), nonetheless, significant impact on reducing CO2 emissions is expected when preparing grouts for mass construction of semi-flexible pavement surfaces. Similarly, effective recycling of waste plastics in road construction and replacing OPC with plastic and geopolymers will have a positive effect on the environment and will furthermore contribute to sustainable pavement construction.