Colorado Asphalt Services, Inc.

H. Wayne Leiser President/CEO CASI – Colorado Asphalt Services, Inc., AAMD Board Member, and President AAMD Suppliers Council

By

H. Wayne Leiser
President/CEO
Colorado Asphalt Services, Inc. (CASI)

      In today’s “environmentally correct” environment, much has changed since the nation’s first “Earth Day” in April, 1970.  Americans are now recycling 28 percent of products that otherwise are considered “solid waste.”  Surprising to many is the fact that the recycling of asphalt, known in the industry as “reclaimed asphalt pavement,” or “RAP,” leads ALL recycled products, in that 80% of reclaimed/removed asphalt is recycled!  In fact, the asphalt industry recycles twice the tonnage of material than the amount of recycled paper, glass, plastic and aluminum, combined!

      RAP can be recycled into new asphalt as part of the formula, or “mix design”, of new asphalt produced in modern asphalt plants.  Believe it or not, it actually helps create a higher quality of asphalt than if the asphalt plant used virtually 100 virgin materials.  Moreover, it can be used, or recycled, over and over again, as it is removed from existing paved surfaces (streets and parking lots) and put back into the production of new asphalt.

      It has been estimated by the EPA and the Federal Highway Administration that the recycling of old asphalt actually saves the U.S. taxpayers approximately $1.8 billion per year.  It also saves hundreds of acres of landfill space each year, where asphalt otherwise would be disposed.

      Another interesting environmental fact is that the production and use of asphalt pavements require about 20% less energy than other pavements (i.e., concrete, etc.).  Asphalt is also faster to create, as a pavement, than other materials.  Likewise, it is immediately “usable,” with no waiting time to cure, thus saving the public time and the inconvenience of longer road closures or detours.  Finally, asphalt is reparable, with crackfilling and other products to increase its longevity, saving the public more money, instead of having to replace alternative pavement surfaces when the ground heaves or cracks develop (which affects all forms of pavement).

      As an additional environmental benefit of asphalt, the mix designs for some asphalt surfaces aid in the “recycling” of other, unrelated products, placed into new asphalt mix.  For example, the asphalt industry is presently experimenting with and using the following products in some asphalt mix designs:  rubber from old tires, slag from the steel-making process, sand from metal-casting foundries, and waste from the production of roofing shingles.  For some time, crushed concrete has also been part of the “recycle mix design” in many asphalt mixes.

      On a different note, regarding the actual production of asphalt in asphalt plants since 1970, the asphalt industry has decreased total emissions by 97%, while simultaneously increasing production by 250%!  Emissions from new asphalt plants are almost non-existent, as the “plume of smoke” coming from the exhausts of new plants is more than 99.9% pure steam, from heating rock, sand and gravel to the required 300 degrees to combine with asphalt oil, called “asphalt cement” in the industry, which is the “binder” or glue which holds the other natural materials together, and which gives asphalt its black color.

      In conclusion, although Joni Mitchell’s song, “Yellow Taxi,” seemed critical of “[paving] paradise to put up a parking lot,” we would all rather drive our vehicles on hard, smooth surfaces, instead of on dirt roads.  For decades in America, the asphalt industry seemed very “low tech” and did not have significant changes in the way it produced and used asphalt. However, in the past 20 years, asphalt has become incredibly environmentally sensitive, producing almost no pollution in its creation or use, while recycling not only itself, but other “waste products”, as well.  Americans can be proud that its use of asphalt, and recycling of asphalt, has advanced so rapidly and respected our sensitive planet more than any other product produced in America!