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INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
The growth in various types of industries together with population growth has resulted in enormous increase in production of various types of waste materials over the world. The creation and disposal of non-decaying waste material such as Blast furnace slag, Fly ash, Steel slag, Scrape tires, plastics etc, have been posing difficult problems in developed as well as in developing countries. Considerable work has been done in various countries for the disposal of some of these waste products and utilization of some other products and there is a long list of published literature dealing with different aspects of these challenging problems. Plastics, a versatile material and a friend to common man become a problem to the environment after its use. The use of thin plastic bags to pack and to carry various materials including household articles has become a common practice all over the world. They are used in millions of tones in each large country and their visibility is has been perceived as a serious problem and made plastics a target in the management of solid waste. Plastic is everywhere in todays lifestyle. It is used for packaging, protecting, serving, and even disposing of all kinds of consumer goods. With the industrial revolution, mass production of goods started and plastic seemed to be a cheaper and effective raw material. Use of this nonbiodegradable (according to recent studies, plastics can stay unchanged for as long as 4500 years on earth) product is growing rapidly and the problem is what to do with plastic-waste. Studies have linked the improper disposal of plastic to problems as distant as breast cancer, reproductive problems in humans and animals, genital abnormalities and even a decline in human sperm count and quality. Disposal of waste materials including waste plastic bags is a menace and has become a serious problem, especially in urban areas, in terms of its misuse, its dumping in the dustbins, clogging of drains, reduced soil fertility and aesthetic problem etc. Waste plastics are also burnt for apparent disposal, causing environmental pollution If a ban is put on the use of plastics on emotional grounds, the real cost would be much higher, the inconvenience much more, the chances of damage or contamination much greater. The risks to the family health and safety would increase and, above all the environmental burden would be manifold.
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1.2 Problem Statement

Plastic is a user friendly but not an eco-friendly material but keeping in view the importance of it, its use cannot be abandoned. The question is not plastics vs. no plastics but it is more concerned with the judicious use and re-use of plastic-waste.

Currently Incineration and landfill are the most common methods adopted for the disposal of plastic wastes. But the problem lies with the fact that these methods are not so much environmental friendly. Incineration is normally carried out above 700 0C. Incineration of polymers like PE, PP, PS produces gases like CO, CO2 etc. and these gases cause global warming, air pollution, monsoon failure, etc. If PVC is mixed with the waste, it may result in the production of HCl, Cl2 and sometime Dioxin, the poisonous gas. Incineration could also aggravate pollution problem if strict standards are not enforced and the process also needs scientific monitoring.

Land filling is a process in which the waste materials are buried in a specific area, away from the city. This process is purely temporary. This may result in (1) affecting water recharge, (2) reducing soil microbial activity (3) clogging the drainage and (4) water line clogs. Such clogging may result in the production of gases like methane, which affects Green House effect. Above all, land availability for filling is also a problem

This project is about utilizing the waste plastic bags in the road construction so that better roads can be constructed along with the safe and unpolluted environment. Waste plastics (carry bags, etc.) on heating softens at around 130-140 0C. A study using thermo gravimetric analysis has shown that there is no gas evolution in the temperature range of 130-180 0C. Moreover the softened plastics have a binding property. Hence, the molten plastic materials can be used as a binder and /or they can be mixed with binder like bitumen to enhance their binding property. This may be a good modifier for the bitumen, used for road construction.

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Why we have to use plastic waste?

Disposal of waste plastic is a major problem It is non-biodegradable It mainly consists of low-density polyethylene To find its utility in bituminous mixes for road construction Burning of these waste plastic bags causes environmental pollution Laboratory studies proved that waste plastic enhances the property of the asphalt mix

1.3 Research Objectives

The objectives of this research were to Study the effect of polymers on the rheological properties of bitumen binder like ductility, softening point, Flash & fire point, Penetration Alter these properties in a way that bitumen becomes least prone to rutting, bleeding, cracking and fire hazards by mixing different percentages of polymers and then finding the optimum content of polymer. plastic waste bags were used in different percentages in bituminous samples to: 1. Determine the Ductility of polymer bituminous blend 2. Observe the trend of flash and fire point with the increase of plastic content in the bitumen 3. Improve the penetration value of the blend. 4. Determine the value of softening point for different percentages of plastic 5. Compute the optimum polymer content 6. Find out plastic content up to which the homogeneous mix of bitumen and plastics can be achieved

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1.4 Scope of the project

To utilize the waste plastic bags. To improve the properties of bitumen by utilizing waste plastics. To utilize those plastics which are causing environmental hazards, plastics are not biodegradable and they cannot be disposed off easily. Proving that the use of plastics in bitumen is justified by the cost over long period of time. To make sure that the road constructed provides desired serviceability level

1.5 Methodology of Research

The research work that is carried out is based on the experimental study of polymer modified bitumen blend. The idea behind the research work was to alter the properties of bitumen in such a way that it can be utilized for the construction of better and durable road. Four different

samples containing plastic content of 0 0.5, 1, 1.5 percent were prepared and different tests were conducted to study the affect of plastics on the bitumen property.

Four tests namely Ductility test, Flash and Fire point test, Softening point test and Penetration test were performed for understanding the behavior of plastics in the bitumen. After determining the values through experimentation graphs were plotted representing each property and the trend was observed which lead in the finding of optimum plastic content.

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1.6 Report Organization

For convenience, the report is divided into following 6 chapters:

Chapter 1 (Introduction)
This chapter provides brief introduction of research work carried out under this project, the problem statement and the objectives of this research work. It gives a birds eye view of the problem for which the project is being done.

Chapter 2 (Literature Review)

In this chapter a thorough literature review has been presented. It covers the introduction of Bitumen, types of bitumen, source of bitumen, Rheological properties of bitumen, Plastics, Thermal study of plastics , Binding properties of plastics, Bitumen plastic blend characteristics.

Chapter 3 (Methodology)
This chapter covers the methods adopted for the preparation of polymer bituminous blend and the specifications for the determination of important properties of blend namely Ductility, Penetration, Softening point, and Flash and Fire point.

Chapter 4 (Analysis & Discussion)

This chapter contains the result obtained from laboratory testing and their analysis.

Chapter 5 ( Practical Implementation)

This chapter covers the methods for the practical implementation of the research work

Chapter 6 (Conclusions and Recommendations)

This chapter contains the conclusions made from the results obtained in this research and types of future studies that can be done following this research.

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