Investigation of recycled fluorescent lamps waste as mineral filler in highway construction: A case of asphaltic pavement layers

Spent and discarded household fluorescent lamps are recognized as hazardous materials due to their contents of mercury and other pernicious components. The global-wide annual storage and dumping of millions of pieces of this electronic waste result in severe risks to arable land resources and give rise to ecosystem degradation and other environmental problems. A parallel issue is that the imminent depletion of those scarce raw materials used for road construction is now forcing highway administrations to seek sustainable resources. As such, the main purpose of this paper is to explore the feasibility of recycling fluorescent lamps into flexible pavement layers, namely the asphalt wearing and binder course, as an alternative to conventional mineral filler. To this end, a set of laboratory tests were conducted so as to compare and contrast mixtures incorporating recycled florescent lamp with control mixtures. These tests included the Marshall, indirect tensile stiffness modulus, wheel track, indirect tensile fatigue and dynamic creep test. Results demonstrate that the promising performance and cost-effectiveness of incorporating discarded fluorescent lamps into low to moderate traffic road surfaces can provide the pavement industry with new resource options.