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In the U.S., most plastics waste is disposed in landfills, but a significant amount also ends up as litter on land, rivers, and oceans. Today, less than 10 percent of plastics waste is recycled in the U.S. annually. The use of recycled plastics in infrastructure applications has potential to help expand the market and demand for plastics recycling.

These are among the findings in TRB Special Report 347: Recycled Plastics in Infrastructure: Current Practices, Understanding, and Opportunities from the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

The report emphasizes that pursuing the recycling of plastics in infrastructure depends on goals, policy, and economics. To that end, life cycle economic and environmental assessments should be conducted to inform policies on plastics waste reuse.

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Suggested Citation

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Recycled Plastics in Infrastructure: Current Practices, Understanding, and Opportunities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/27172.

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Publication Info

404 pages |  6 x 9 |  DOI: https://doi.org/10.17226/27172
Chapters skim
Front Matter i-xxxii
Summary 1-8
1 Introduction 9-18
2 Plastics Properties, Production, and Markets 19-32
3 Management and Sourcing of Plastics Waste 33-64
4 Life-Cycle Considerations 65-84
5 Impact of Policy and Regulation on the Use of Plastics Waste in Infrastructure in the United States 85-100
6 Applications of Recycled Plastics in Pavements 101-132
7 Applications of Recycled Plastics in Other Infrastructure 133-174
8 Plastics Redesign for Recycling 175-192
9 Major Findings and Recommendations 193-200
Appendix A: Study Committee Biographical Information 201-208
Appendix B: Disclosure of Unavoidable Conflict of Interest 209-210
Appendix C: Invited Speakers at Committee Meetings 211-214
Appendix D: Utilization of Plastics Waste in Transportation Infrastructure in State Departments of Transportation 215-218
Appendix E: Overview of Recycled Plastics Supply and Demand: Identifying the Critical Market Bottlenecks for Closing the Loop 219-252
Appendix F: The Use of Plastic Scrap in Transportation Applications in the United States 253-282
Appendix G: Durability and Life-Cycle Implications of Repurposing Plastics Waste in Infrastructure: A Case Study 283-324
Appendix H: The Life-Cycle Environmental Benefits and Trade-Offs of Plastics Waste Recycling and Reuse in Infrastructure 325-362
Appendix I: Glossary 363-366
Appendix J: Overview of Plastics by Resin Identification Code (RIC) 367-372

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