Growth path for asphalt recycling in the USA

United States – ‘The asphalt industry remains the country’s number one recycler,’ the US National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) has pointed out. According to its new study, a total of 66.7 million tons of reclaimed asphalt pavement was used in the construction sector in 2011. This is equivalent to ‘a 7% increase from 2010 and a 19% increase from 2009’.In 2011, more than 99% of asphalt pavement reclaimed from roads was used in new pavements instead of going to landfills. In the survey, over 98% of producers reported using the material in their mixes for new construction, pavement preservation, rehabilitation and other projects; this figure is ‘up slightly’ from the 96% of businesses using the material in 2010, according to NAPA.

The same upward trend can be observed for recycled asphalt shingles, usage of which ‘also continued to climb’ to 1.2 million tons in 2011 for an 8% increase over 2010 and a 52.5% leap since 2009.

‘Thanks to broad adoption of sustainable construction practices, the asphalt pavement industry saved taxpayers more than US$ 2.2 billion during the 2011 paving season through the use of recycled materials and energy-saving, warm-mix technologies,’ it is underlined by NAPA.

John Keating, NAPA’s chairman and president of Oldcastle Materials, says that there is still ‘room to do more’. He is certain that the asphalt pavement industry is ‘ready to reach even higher levels of sustainability’ in road construction.

The survey was conducted in 49 US states as well as Puerto Rico in partnership with the Federal Highway Administration.

For more information, visit: www.asphaltpavement.org

Source: WasteDive