A Critical Review of Porous Asphalt Mixtures Incorporating Waste Materials: Integrating Functional Performance with Life Cycle Sustainability

Porous asphalt (PA) mixtures offer multifunctional benefits, yet their long-term durability remains a challenge. This study presents a systematic review of recent developments in waste-modified PA, following PRISMA guidelines and analyzing 123 high-impact documents published between 2015 and 2025 across the Web of Science and Scopus databases. Unlike previous works, this paper adopts a multi-waste perspective to synthesize the interactions between recycled modifiers and the open-graded skeleton. Quantitative analysis reveals that incorporating crumb rubber can improve sound absorption by up to 30%, while specific recycled plastics enhance rutting resistance by 15–20% compared to conventional mixtures. However, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) data indicates that these environmental gains, reducing carbon footprints by up to 25%, are highly sensitive to the chosen system boundaries. The review identifies a critical need for standardization in clogging protocols and ‘cradle-to-grave’ environmental modeling to bridge the gap between laboratory results and large-scale engineering practice. Finally, this research demonstrates how the adoption of waste-modified porous asphalt mixtures directly contributes to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), and SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), by fostering circular economy principles in pavement engineering.