How plastic waste could one day be used to build roads

University of Missouri researchers have developed a substance that mixes asphalt and plastic waste. Photo: AFP

In recent years, about half a dozen US states have been testing a new mix of materials for road construction, using plastic recycled from shopping bags, bottles, printer ink cartridges and a host of other sources.

The idea is to build roads from waste that often ends up polluting, whether in landfill or in the natural environment. In all cases, the recycled plastic is combined with asphalt (composed of sand, stone or gravel and hydrocarbons) before this savvy mixture is applied to the road.