Texas drivers could soon have smoother commutes thanks to a surprising ingredient -- plastic bags.
Engineers at the University of Texas at Arlington have developed a method to blend shredded plastic into asphalt, and early results suggest that it holds up better than standard road-building materials even under stress.
As KERA News reported, the team led by civil engineering professor Sahadat Hossain paved a 3,500-foot stretch of State Highway 205 in Rockwall with the asphalt-shredded plastic mix. It became the first highway in Texas to use the material.
In 2020, Hossain and Professor Warda Ashraf launched a feasibility study on plastic roads, The Shorthorn wrote. The Texas Department of Transportation awarded the project more than $340,000 in funding.
The research began several years ago with real-life tests on the UT Arlington campus, which included parking lot repairs that used 3.5 tons of discarded plastic waste, enough to fill 15 garbage trucks.
Plastic pollution is a persistent problem. According to the Ocean Conservancy, 11 million metric tons of plastic find their way into the ocean every year, affecting nearly 700 species and leading to the creation of microplastics that end up in food, drinking water, and the air we breathe.
State motorists spend nearly $1,000 a year on vehicle repairs caused by potholes and rough pavement, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Professor Hossain believes his team has found a way to ease both burdens at once.
"We found out that if we add plastic to the asphalt road, the road becomes more durable," he told KERA News. "The rutting and cracking are less. And the performance is much better."
Ongoing evaluations showed the asphalt mix in plastic roads remains durable compared to typical asphalt, CBS News reported.
A separate study published in the journal Applied Sciences found that adding plastic waste to pavement may reduce heat-trapping gases and the need for long-term maintenance.
The same principle applies on a smaller scale -- limiting plastic use at home helps ease the waste problem that innovations like these are designed to solve.
The Rockwall pilot will be monitored closely, with a similar project set for Fort Worth in the fall. If results hold, Texas could become a model for other states and perhaps countries looking to adopt plastic roads.