| GRN Recycle Talk FAQ Answer |
Date: Tue, 20 Oct 98 09:17 WET DST From: FRIEDMAN.FRED@EPAMAIL.EPA.GOV (Fred Friedman) Subject: Re: Highway asphalt recycling methods (China)
October 19, 1998
Can highway asphalt be recycled? Given current US (and many other places)technology, yes, very easily. The Asphalt Recycling and Reclaiming (Trade) Assn. is located at 3 Church Circle, Suite 250, Annapolis, MD 21401.
Asphalt from highways can be recycled into new asphaltic pavements when mixed with other materials. It can be recycled into asphalt roofing shingles, and into patching materials for road holes and cracks. The major technology, though not the only one, is crushers in two stages. Impact grinders, cone breakers, jaw crushers, hammmer shredders and combinations of these or hybrids of them is the basic technology used. The key problem to recycling asphalt is removing the binder and reapplying an effective binder for use when the asphalt is reused. Asphaltenes and saturates and fractionate material from refineries have been studied by Texas A M university under a contract for the US Dept. of Energy in 1996.
There are American consultants who are skilled at every aspect of asphalt recycling including mobile equipment installation so you can carry the recycling operation to the highway rather than transport the highway to the equipment. The magazine C D Debris Recycling of Chicago has an annual 'buyer's guide' listing some consultants and much equipment. The most respected group in this field is the National Assn. of Home Builders, but highways may be beyond their scope. The Research Library (y.t.) can also help with referrals to consultants but only from the New England Region.
- Research Library for RCRA