Study of the feasability of producing modified asphalt bitumens using flakes made from recycled polymers

[Display omitted] •Recycled rubber polyethylene flakes (RRPF) can be used as bitumen modifiers.•Binders modified with RRPF show phase separation at high temperatures.•The increase of RRPF increase the resistance to permanent deformations of unaged binders.•The increase of RRPF increase the cracking resistance of aged binders.•RRPF modified binders do not meet the required specifications of modified bitumen manufactured in refinery. The use of polymer-modified binders allows for the construction of more durable pavements that require lower maintenance costs. Nevertheless, the cost of these binders limits their applicability (commonly these are used only in surface layers in high volume traffic roads), and sometimes they are not available in all countries or regions. The reuse of recycled polymers as bitumen modifiers can be an interesting alternative from both economic and environmental perspectives, but the incorporation of these materials into a neat binder (and their subsequent modification) is not always easy, and the end product does not always have the desired properties. Thus the aim of the present study was to analyze the feasibility of using flakes made from recycled polyethylene (PE) and tire rubber (GTR) as binder modifiers. For this purpose, these flakes were added to neat bitumen in different dosages, conducting penetration, softening point, and rheological analyses, both before and after ageing. The results obtained for the binders modified with different dosages of flakes were compared with those obtained from high performance polymer modified bitumen manufactured in a refinery. Although these materials did not show the same mechanical properties as those of the reference polymer modified binder, these findings indicate that the use of recycled polymer flakes could be an interesting alternative for producing better binders that could be used in any type of asphalt layer or road.