Abstract
Recycled plastic modification of bituminous binder and asphalt mixtures for pavement construction has gained significant attention in recent years. This reflects the increasing focus on the sustainable provision of resilient infrastructure. Plastic can be added by a dry (into aggregate) or wet (into bitumen) mixing methods. The wet-mixing process is often preferred because it ensures full digestion of the plastic into the bitumen. However, when stored at high temperature, the plastic modified binder can segregate, resulting in the plastic separating from the bitumen. Additives have been trialled to reduce the risk of segregation, thereby improving the hot storage stability of recycled plastic modified bituminous binders. This research measured the improved storage stability achieved by the addition of a reactive terpolymer to bituminous binder samples modified with three commercially available recycled plastics. The preliminary conclusions indicate that different types of plastic are more or less prone to segregation and that the effect of the additive varied for the different plastic types.