To change the world \u201cone road at a time\u201d is what University of Texas at Arlington engineering professor Sahadat Hossain and his students plan to do.<\/p>\n
Hossain and the team have been developing a plastic-infused asphalt mix for road construction he said improves roads \u2014 and recycles plastic that would have otherwise gone to waste.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe found out if we add plastic to the asphalt road, the road becomes more durable,\u201d Hossain said. \u201cThe rutting and cracking are less. And the performance is much better.\u201d<\/p>\n
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A 3,500-foot stretch of road in Rockwall was paved using a blend of asphalt and shredded plastic. \u201cThis is taking one problem, which is plastic filling up our landfills, and using it to solve another problem by providing longer-lasting roads,\u201d Brian Barth, deputy executive director at TxDOT, said in a statement. (Priscilla Rice \/ KERA)<\/p>\n
This spring, the team replaced the top two inches of a section of North Goliad Street in Rockwall with a mix of asphalt and shredded plastic. It\u2019s the first highway in Texas paved with the unique asphalt. Over the course of a single night, the team mixed the asphalt, brought it to the site and finished by 6 a.m.<\/p>\n
Hossain, who is also the director of Solid Waste Institute for Sustainability at UTA, is not new to this work.<\/p>\n
In 2019 he went to the Texas Department of Transportation\u2019s Dallas district and asked to do a feasibility study. After running some tests, he got the green light to pilot the asphalt.<\/p>\n
Hossain and his students built the first plastic-infused road on the UTA campus in 2023, patching a one-mile section over two parking lots. Doctoral student Ishraq Faruk said they used approximately 3.5 tons of plastic waste to complete the project.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s almost estimated to be around 15 garbage trucks full of plastics,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The 3,500-foot-long section of road in Rockwall used about 3.5 tons of plastic.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we had constructed a mile-long road it would have utilized like more than five tons of waste plastics,\u00a0which is huge in points of diversion from landfills,\u201d Faruk said.<\/p>\n
Plastic bags are dangerous because they can\u2019t be recycled, Hossain said. He remembers driving along Highway 157 next to an Arlington landfill when a plastic bag hit his car.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody tries to recycle them,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re all sent back to the landfill. We found a way to reuse that one-time-used plastic bag.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The unique mix blends asphalt with shredded plastic bags. (Priscilla Rice \/ KERA)<\/p>\n
Hossain and his team will monitor the road in Rockwall in the coming years, and plan to expand the pilot to other roads in Texas.<\/p>\n
In the fall, they will work on a road project in Fort Worth.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause TXDOT is big, any project that is done in Texas successfully, other states usually follow Texas,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are not going to be limited to Texas. We are going to expand nationally.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Texas Department of Transportation said the project could \u201cdrive a more sustainable future.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is taking one problem, which is plastic filling up our landfills, and using it to solve another problem by providing longer-lasting roads,\u201d Brian Barth, deputy executive director at TxDOT, said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Hossain and his students have also worked on road construction in Dahka, Bangladesh, and several of his students spent a few months there to work on and oversee the project.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been monitoring both UTA parking lot and Dhaka plastic road, and the results are amazing,\u201d Hossain said. \u201cIn two years, we have absolutely no issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
Groups from as far away as Ethiopia, Nigeria and Saudia Arabia have reached out.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think what we\u2019re doing here is, you know, we\u2019re integrating engineering innovation with sustainability,\u201d said student and team member Garima Maharjan. \u201cAnd usually when we\u2019re talking about innovations, we neglect the sustainability part, so integrating both of these, it\u2019s a great job and I love to be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
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