Sustainable asphalt pavements with recycled concrete aggregate and waste glass

Asphalt is the major surfacing material of  the UK’s road infrastructure, which comprises mineral aggregates and bitumen. Meanwhile, the foundation industry generates millions of tons of waste concrete and glass in the UK, which could potentially be a replacement for scarce natural aggregates. The current project aims to incorporate recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) and recycled glass cullet (RGC) from foundation industries into the production of high performance and sustainable asphalt pavements.

The uses of recycled materials as substitutes in asphalt production can bring a number of technical, environmental, economic and societal benefits. This project will provide a better understanding of the interaction mechanism between asphalt, cement concrete and glass. If these recycled materials are eventually used in roads, they will significantly reduce the exploitation of natural aggregates, the amount of disposed waste concrete and glass materials, and benefit the environment by reducing the carbon footprint of the construction industry. They will also minimise the costs of pavement construction, providing economic benefit to the UK. 

Haopeng Wang

University of Nottingham