Plastic roads are paved roadways that are made partially or entirely from plastic or plastic composites, which is used to replace standard asphalt materials. Most plastic roads make use of plastic waste to replace a portion the asphalt. It is currently unknown how these aggregates will perform in the mid- to long-term, or what effect their degradation might have on surrounding ecosystems.

"Plastic Roads" can be roads which entirely consist of modular, hollow, and prefabricated road elements made from consumer waste plastics, however, most plastic roads consist of waste plastic used to replace bitumen mixed with recycled asphalt. This type of material is sometimes referred to as Plastic Asphalt.

Plastic roads were first developed by Rajagopalan Vasudevan in 2001, consisting of an asphalt mix incorporating plastic waste. The incorporation of plastics in roads could open an additional option for recycling post-consumer plastics. Australia, Indonesia, India, the United Kingdom, the United States, and many other countries have trialed technologies that can incorporate plastic waste into an asphalt mix.

In the Netherlands, in the cities of Zwolle and Giethoorn, there are two bicycle paths made purely from waste plastics. This is the result of an invention by Simon Jorritsma and Anne Koudstaal. collaboration between three companies: VolkerWessels, Wavin, and Total. The "Plastic Road" built by the three companies consists of prefabricated, hollow, modular elements made from consumer waste plastics. Advocates suggest advantages compared to normal roads, including hollow space for the storage of excessive rainwater and benefits from the lightweight and potentially sustainable nature of these roadways.

The technology was initially developed and patented by Rajagopalan Vasudevan of the Thiagarajar College of Engineering. In January 2018 Vasudevan was bestowed with one of India's most prominent awards, the Padma Shri, for his research on plastic research and reuse. The plastic-bitumen road-laying technique was covered under a patent held by the Thiagarajar College of Engineering in 2006. The installation of plastic roads firstly comprises the collection of waste plastics, including plastic carry bags, cups, soft and hard foams, and laminated plastics. These are then cleaned by washing, shredded to a uniform size, melted at 165°C then blended with hot aggregates and bitumen. This unique mixture is thereafter used, as a main component, in the eventual construction of a plastic road.

Since plastic roads are a relatively new idea, construction processes vary. In Jamshedpur, India, roads are created from a mix of plastic and bitumen. In Indonesia, roads are also being built using a plastic-asphalt mix in many areas including Bali, Surabaya, Bekasi, Makassar, Solo, and Tangerang.

These roads are made from recycled plastics, and the first step in constructing them is to collect and manage the plastic material. The plastics involved in building these roads consist mainly of common post-consumer products such as product packaging. Some of the most common plastics used in packaging are polyethylene terephthalate (PET or PETE), polypropylene (PP), and high- and low-density polyethylene (HDPE and LDPE). These materials are first sorted from plastic waste. After sorting, the material is cleaned, dried, and shredded. The shredded plastic is mixed and melted at around 165 °C. Hot bitumen is then added and mixed with the melted plastic. After mixing the mixture is laid as one would with regular asphalt concrete.

So far, no large-scale, systematic approach has been employed to build roads entirely of plastics in any country. On 13 September 2018, the Dutch company Volkerwessels built a bicycle path made of recycled plastic in Zwolle, in the northeast part of the Netherlands. According to the Guardian, "A second path is to be installed in Giethoorn in Overijssel, and Rotterdam is the city most likely to take up the technology."