Advanced Sustainable Pavement: Eco-Friendly Stone Matrix Asphalt Engineered with Recycled Additives

The accelerating growth of urban and industrial activities has led to mounting volumes of non-biodegradable waste, posing urgent environmental challenges for modern societies. Recycling these wastes in stone matrix asphalt (SMA) mixtures helps reduce environmental impact while improving pavement performance. This study investigates the use of shredded cigarette filters (SCF) as fiber stabilizers and recycled medicine blister packs (RMBP) as aggregate replacement in SMA mixtures to enhance performance and support waste management.

Laboratory testing included Superpave volumetric analysis, assessment of moisture susceptibility in terms of tensile strength ratio test (TSR), fatigue life evaluation, determination of rutting behavior in terms of Hamburg wheel-tracking test (HWTT), and service life modeling, to assess the effect of SCF and RMBP.

The recycled SMA mixture showed improvements compared to the control mix, including lower air voids, higher binder retention, enhanced moisture resistance (TSR of 86.7%), and improvements in stiffness and fatigue life (up to 20%). HWTT results revealed rut depth reductions of 19-31%, and service life modeling predicted an extension from 18.0 years for the control to 24.3 years for the recycled mixture under heavy traffic.

The findings suggested that incorporating SCF and RMBP into SMA mixtures can improve durability, moisture resistance, and service life, while supporting environmental sustainability through the recycling of post-consumer waste.