70% rubberised asphalt used is recycled - survey

ERJ staff report (LMH)

Chevy Chase, Maryland -- The US Rubberized Asphalt Foundation (RAF), a research foundation focused on the use of recycled tire rubber in asphalt pavements, has said that 70 percent of transport agencies have previously used or currently use recycled tyre rubber in asphalt.

RAF recently carried out a survey, which found that about half of the respondents indicate that they have a specification for using recycled tyre rubber. The survey was conducted for RAF by the Highway Sustainability Research Center at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. It was sent to 152 transport professionals, including members of each state transportation agency, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and other government agencies.

The organisation also said the survey reveals the decisions currently being made by transport officials regarding the use of recycled tyre rubber in asphalt pavements. RAF plans on conducting a further analysis to account for the amount of recycled tyre rubber being used by each agency.

Agencies have used recycled tyre rubber routinely for crack sealing (30 percent), chip seals (26 percent), dense-graded hot mix asphalts (15 percent), joint sealants (15 percent), stress absorbing membrane interlayers (11 percent), and open-graded friction courses (11 percent), according to the survey.

Another aspect of the survey notes the technologies being used by transport agencies to incorporate recycled tyre rubber into their pavements. These results show that terminal blending is the predominate method currently being used. It is being chosen 59 percent of the time, RAF said.

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News release Rubberized Asphalt Foundation