Poly(ethylene terephthalate) waste derived chemicals as an antistripping additive for bitumen - An environment friendly approach for disposal of environmentally hazardous material

The increasing accumulation of poly(ethylene terephthalate) polymer and poor recycle/disposal practices have made them omnipresent and a major culprit for environmental pollution. Currently global research efforts are focused on primary and secondary recycling of PET waste or through landfills. Chemical recycling of PET through hydrolytic or aminolytic route has been attempted by many researchers however with limited end applications. In our investigations we have used PET waste as a synthon and chemically converted it through a new non-catalytic route into several benzamide derivatives. We have successfully tested them for antistripping performance in bitumen. Our results as elaborated in the paper indicate a comparable performance of the new chemistry products based on PET, to commercially used antistripping chemicals. Our research work thus opens a new route for the recycling of used PET in bituminous concrete roads which may help in alleviating a major environmental problem and disposal of waste PET polymer in large scale.