By Dr. Mark Buncher, Ph.D., P.E.

A joint Asphalt Institute (AI) and National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) task force was formed in late 2019 to address the topic of recycled plastics in asphalt. The objective of the task force was to develop a document that would synthesize the literature and describe the current state of the knowledge while identifying knowledge gaps and future research needs.

AI and NAPA hired Dr. Fan Yin of the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) to conduct a comprehensive literature review on the use of recycled plastics in asphalt binders and mixtures.