International Journal of Applied Environmental Sciences
ISSN 0973-6077 Volume 11, Number 1 (2016), pp. 183-192
© Research India Publications
http://www.ripublication.com
Production of Sustainable Asphalt Mixes Using
Recycled Polystyrene
Mousa Bani Baker
1
, Raed Abendeh
1
, Zaydoun Abu-Salem
1
and Taisir Khedaywi
2
1
Department of Civil and Infrastructure Engineering,
Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan.
2
Department Civil Engineering,
Jordan University of Science &Technology,
Irbid, Jordan.
Abstract
The issue of discarding unwanted materials is becoming a vital topic in
contemporary engineering trends, as it has negative influence in the
environment where it's discarded. Polystyrene is one of the materials widely
used in industrial applications as a packaging and construction material. The
collection and safe disposal of this material in asphalt mixes was elaborated in
this paper. The polystyrene waste was added by volume to the bitumen in 0, 5,
10 and 15%. Penetration degree, softening point, ductility, flash and fire point
tests were conducted in this research. Results show that increasing the
polystyrene ratio in asphalt will have direct impact on the bitumen properties
by decreasing penetration, ductility and increasing softening, flash and fire
points. The modified asphalt can be used in hot climate for different
construction purposes such as insulation materials (waterproof) for basements,
retaining walls and roofs or as a pavement material in garage floors, parking
lots, sidewalks, playgrounds and parks.
Keywords: Polystyrene; Bitumen; Sustainability; Recycling
Introduction
Environmental problems have been considered as a serious situation in the
construction. Waste management is pressing harder with the alarming signal warning
the industry. Reuse, recycling and reduce the wastes consider as the only methods to
recover those waste generated; however, the implementations still have much room