Rispoli Ottavia, Ajibade Oluwatoyin Opeyemi
Civil and Building Services Engineering Division, School of The Built Environment and Architecture, London South Bank University, 103 Borough Road, London, SE1 0AA, UK.
Heliyon. 2024 Jan 9;10(2):e24354. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e24354. eCollection 2024 Jan 30.
Road surfacing is crucial in improving community accessibility and mobility. Adopting sustainable measures is extremely important to prevent the significantly high environmental burdens associated with road pavement systems production. This study presents a comparative life cycle assessment of traditional pavement systems and their sustainable alternatives made and tested at the London South Bank University laboratories. The low-impact pavement mixes proposed herein provide a novel, innovative method for producing sustainable road systems. Unlike traditional approaches, these asphalt mixes utilise materials derived from recycled polyethylene terephthalate (plastics) and carbonated aggregates and are produced at temperatures significantly lower (warm mix). The Simapro software (Consultants, 2023) [1] was used to model the analysed asphalt mixes, and all life cycle inputs and outputs were characterised during the life cycle impact assessment phase into potential impacts using the IMPACT World + Midpoint method. Additionally, an uncertainty analysis employing Monte Carlo simulation was conducted to validate the life cycle assessment findings, reinforcing the robustness and credibility of this study's results. Notably, the assessment shows substantial reductions in the environmental impact of road pavement mixes adopting recycled plastic and carbonated aggregates, with various outcomes. Compared to traditional mixes, Climate Change emissions are reduced by approximately 40 %-60 %, Marine Eutrophication exhibits reductions of up to 30 %, and Freshwater Eutrophication decreases by up to 20 %. These findings suggest that integrating this sustainable road pavement approach can significantly reduce the environmental burdens of asphalt production and give asphalt a pivotal role in tackling waste reduction, carbon sequestration, and achieving Net Zero. Also, the proposed system can positively contribute to the current United Kingdom's (UK) circular policy model by reconsidering current waste management frameworks and integrating more efficient settings.
路面铺设对于改善社区可达性和机动性至关重要。采取可持续措施对于防止与路面系统生产相关的极高环境负担极为重要。本研究对在伦敦南岸大学实验室制造和测试的传统路面系统及其可持续替代方案进行了比较生命周期评估。本文提出的低影响路面混合料提供了一种生产可持续道路系统的新颖、创新方法。与传统方法不同，这些沥青混合料利用来自回收聚对苯二甲酸乙二酯（塑料）和碳酸化集料的材料，并在显著更低的温度下生产（温拌）。使用Simapro软件（顾问公司，2023年）[1]对分析的沥青混合料进行建模，并且在生命周期影响评估阶段，使用IMPACT World + 中点法将所有生命周期输入和输出表征为潜在影响。此外，采用蒙特卡洛模拟进行了不确定性分析，以验证生命周期评估结果，增强本研究结果的稳健性和可信度。值得注意的是，评估显示采用回收塑料和碳酸化集料的道路路面混合料的环境影响大幅降低，有各种结果。与传统混合料相比，气候变化排放量减少约40% - 60%，海洋富营养化减少高达30%，淡水富营养化减少高达20%。这些发现表明，整合这种可持续道路路面方法可以显著减少沥青生产的环境负担，并使沥青在解决废物减少、碳固存和实现净零排放方面发挥关键作用。此外，通过重新考虑当前的废物管理框架并整合更高效的设置，所提出的系统可以对当前英国的循环政策模式做出积极贡献。
