Asphalt is one of America’s most recycled materials, but the sticky black product admired for its weather resistance, its ability to bind together other materials, to pave roads and cover roofs also faces challenges in meeting its full recycling potential.
The brightest success in asphalt recycling is found in paving. Margaret Cervarich, vice president for communications and public affairs of the National Asphalt Pavement Association, a Lanham, Maryland trade group, said 99 percent of the asphalt covering the nation’s roads is recycled when it is removed for resurfacing or other purposes. “In 2010 we reclaimed 72.9 million tons of asphalt pavement,” Cervarich said.
Asphalt used for paving is easy to recycle, for several reasons. One is that it is mostly made up of rocks in the form of aggregate bound together by the sticky asphalt. Not only are the rocks highly durable and readily re-used for the same purposes, but asphalt itself can be recycled indefinitely, Cervarich said.
Source: American Recycler
By Mark Henricks