Harvesting the unexplored potential of European waste materials for road construction

L.D. Poulikakos, C. Papadaskalopoulou, B. Hofko, F. Gschösser, A. Cannone Falchetto, M. Bueno, M. Arraigada, J. Sousa, R. Ruiz, C. Petit, M. Loizidou and M.N. Partl

Resources, Conservation & Recycling, 2017, vol. 116, issue C, 32-44

Abstract: This paper demonstrates how a considerable amount of waste produced in the urban and peri-urban environment can be recycled in asphalt roads. The example presented is from Europe, however, the barriers and conclusions are universal. It was shown that various waste materials such as glass, asphalt, concrete, wood, plastics etc. have a potential for re-use in asphalt roads. The available quantities of the European target waste materials that would otherwise be incinerated or disposed in landfills were considered. It was shown that there is high potential in Europe for recycling in road construction, in particular, under the hypothetical scenario where 33% of new roads would be made of the target waste materials (excluding RAP which is already recycled), it is estimated that 16% of the available waste quantities could be recycled in roads. Four hypothetical roads were analysed showing a considerable savings in costs, CO2 and energy in comparison to conventional asphalt mixtures using all virgin components.

Keywords: Road materials; Waste; Steel slag; Plastics; Construction and demolition waste; Glass (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:recore:v:116:y:2017:i:c:p:32-44

DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2016.09.008

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