LIFE10 ENV/ES/516
POLYMER WASTES IN ASPHALT MIXES: A WAY TO INCREASE SUSTAINABILITY OF ROADS INFRASTRUCTURES
Project Description
POLYMER WASTES IN ASPHALT MIXES: A WAY TO INCREASE SUSTAINABILITY OF ROADS INFRAESTRUCTURES (POLYMIX)

PROJECT LOCATION CANTABRIA, MADRID AND VALENCIA
BUDGET 1.535.225€
EC CO-FUNDING 760.091€
DURATION 43 MONTHS (2011-2015)
PROJECTS IMPLEMENTORS - University of Cantabria (Project Coordinator)
- Acciona Infraestructuras S.A.
- Instituto Tecnológico del Plástico (AIMPLAS)
- Consejería de Transportes e Infraestructuras   de la Comunidad de  Madrid
BACKGROUND

Nowadays, Polymers are recycled at rates of only a few percent points in most countries, so they are rapidly accumulating in unproductive and virtually permanent landfills. This waste disposal contributes significantly to their environmental impact. In addition, they take a long time to break down when they are landfilled, and each time there are more and more polymers products in the market being disposed of soon after their purchase. This kind of waste has a huge impact on the environment, contaminating our soil and water in the environment.


Reusing this type of waste by adding them into the asphalt mixes brings not only environmental advantages, but also increases the added value of the product.

In this project, several asphalt mixes modified by recycled polymeric waste will be developed and the performance changes introduced by polymers addition will be characterized. Modified mixes have proved to present better physical and mechanical properties than conventional ones, because of the addition of polymer.

  
Firstly, the evaluation and characterization of these new modified mixes will be done at laboratory scale. Several tests will be carried out in order to design and develop the polymeric mixes that will be implemented in the four demonstrators. The upscaling process to manufacture the necessary mixes for the demonstration stage will be designed.  The new asphalt mixes will be implemented, monitored and evaluated in a real case scenario.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of POLYMIX Project is the demonstration of new environmental friendly asphalt mixes, using polymer waste for modifying mixes. In this way environmental problems associated to polymer waste will be reduced, permitting new alternatives for its reuse.


ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS TARGETED
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Reuse and revalorization of polymeric waste.
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Improve rutting resistance and modulus of the asphalt mixes increasing roads infrastructure durability reducing maintenance needs.
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Reduction of the natural aggregates consumption and of the emissions associated to aggregates production in quarries.
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Polymix will support European policy makers in defining general conditions and priorities to increase wastes recycling.
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Set recommendation to standards and GPP for the construction sector.
EXPECTED RESULTS

The annual production of asphalt mixes in Spain is about 45 million tonnes, and in Europe is about 300 million tonnes. Considering a market penetration of this technology of 5% in Spain, more than 22.500 tonnes of plastic waste could be revalorised and up to 11.250 tonnes of Used Tyres could also be recycled for road construction.

The use of polymeric waste in asphalt mixes will be aimed at the following goals:
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Problems associated with dumps and landfills, generated by the polymeric characteristic of their difficulty to be degraded naturally.
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Problems related to energy recovery plants where wastes are burned and consequently generate pollutant emissions.
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Emissions associated to the production of aggregates, because it will be partially replaced by polymer wastes. 
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