Asphalt is the most recycled product in the US, beating out glass, aluminum, and paper products. There are many benefits to using recycled asphalt, for both the environment and invested parties. Those invested include taxpayers, paving companies, and customers/clients! Explore the many benefits of using recycled asphalt.
Benefits of Using Recycled Asphalt
Asphalt is made from bitumen, which is a sticky, black, thick liquid made from petroleum. Referred to as asphalt binder, it is mixed with an aggregate—sand, gravel, or stone—to form what is known as asphalt concrete or asphalt pavement. This final pavement product is also referred to as “asphalt.”
To recycle asphalt, old, reclaimed asphalt is broken into pieces and remixed. According to the National Asphalt Paving Association, in 2019, 94 percent of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) was used in new pavements for a total of 89.2 million tons of recycled asphalt. Some companies perform in-place asphalt recycling, meaning they utilize machines that process that site’s old asphalt using machinery at the job site to recycle and lay the new asphalt.
Using recycled asphalt has numerous benefits. Environmental benefits of using recycled asphalt include:
- Reduces the demand for crude oil, a limited resource.
- Reduces the demand for aggregates.
- Keeps asphalt out of landfills.
- Reduces the need for transportation for aggregates and oil, which lowers the use of oil and the release of greenhouse gases.
Using recycled asphalt also has benefits for paving companies, their clients, and those taxpayers who are essentially footing the bill for asphalt-paved roads and highways. Savings include:
- Reduces the cost of an asphalt paving project through the lower cost of new raw materials, transportation of those materials, landfill costs, etc.
- Reduces the cost of upkeep and maintenance of existing pavement structures like parking lots, roads, and walkways.
Tucker Paving is a paving construction company with over 25 years of experience in the asphalt and concrete paving industry! Contact us online, or call us at?(863) 299-2262 for assistance with your asphalt paving projects. We also accept clean concrete and asphalt debris for recycling!