America's Most Recycled and Reused Material

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. This is the mantra. Of these three strategies, “Reduce” is the most beneficial for the environment, “Reuse” is the next most advantageous, and “Recycle” is also very helpful.

What’s great for the environment is that reclaimed asphalt reduces the amount of virgin asphalt cement needed for constructing new roadways. When reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) is incorporated into new pavement, the asphalt cement in the old pavement is reactivated, becoming part of the glue that holds the new pavement together and replacing some of the virgin asphalt cement that would otherwise be required.  

Of the 100 million tons of asphalt pavement reclaimed every year, about 75 percent (75 million tons) is reused for new pavements. Another 20 percent of RAP (20 million tons) is recycled into other highway uses.

Asphalt pavement is 100 percent recyclable and reusable, and it is America’s most reused and recycled pavement material.

Unlike with asphalt, when concrete pavement is reclaimed, the Portland cement binder cannot be re-hydrated after its initial use. The steel reinforcing material is extracted, leaving a material which can only be recycled as aggregate.

The asphalt industry also helps to recycle concrete pavements through rubblization. When a concrete pavement needs reconstruction or major rehabilitation, rubblizing the concrete and topping it with an asphalt overlay is the easiest, lowest-cost, and most effective way to rehabilitate the pavement in the shortest amount of time. Rubblization also saves energy; the old pavement does not need to be hauled away and new base material does not need to be trucked in. Landfill space is saved and the need for mining and processing of virgin materials is reduced.

In addition, the asphalt industry recycles materials from other industries—used tires, waste roofing shingles, glass, and many others—into high-quality pavements.

FHWA/EPA report shows that asphalt tops the recycling chart

The Environmental Protection Agency and Federal Highway Administration issued a report showing that asphalt is America's number one recycled product.  For a PDF of a chart from that report, [Click Here].

Recycled Foundry Sand 

This is a two-part series appearing in HMAT magzine, discussing Recycling Foundry Sand.

Author: Chuck Hughes, P.E.

Sources and Properties
In the Mix