RAP Is 100 Percent Recyclable

To paraphrase Rodney Dangerfield, reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) "don’t get no respect", if a new survey by the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) is accurate.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) reports that 80 percent of
RAP that’s removed each year during widening and resurfacing projects is recycled and reused in various manners.

That 80 percent is significantly higher than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s recycling rates of 60 percent for aluminum cans, 56 percent for newsprint, 37 percent for plastic soft drink bottles, 31 percent for glass beverage bottles and 23 percent for magazines, NAPA reports. But in an Earth Day-inspired, NAPA commissioned survey of U.S. residents earlier this year, NAPA found that public awareness of RAP reuse is barely existent.

In the survey of 1,000 adults, Americans ranked asphalt pavement as being recycled the least among nine products. When asked which of the nine is recycled the most, 35 percent of Americans said paper, followed by 31 percent for aluminum and 21 percent for plastic. When asked which is recycled the least, 29 percent said asphalt pavement, followed by 18 percent for rubber and 16 percent for yard waste.
That the general public isn’t aware of RAP reuse should not be surprising. The public -- and the news media, for that matter -- barely knows the difference between portland cement concrete and hot mix asphalt pavements.

But because asphalt pavement accounts for 92 percent of the nation’s
highways and roadways -- and the fact that RAP can be used as part of new pavement, roadbeds, shoulders and embankments, and even used for trails and bike paths -- the reuse of RAP offers a powerful opportunity to stress the environmental benefits of responsible road construction.
RAP is "buried treasure" for the roadbuilding community and its highway using, taxpaying patrons. The aggregates in RAP have been pre-processed at considerable expense years earlier, so the diesel fuel, electricity and water used to mine, process and deliver the aggregates are
saved, benefiting taxpayers and road users.

Also, because RAP’s processed aggregates are reused, less stone is consumed from existing quarries and gravel pits, prolonging those reserves in a time of growing opposition to the opening of new aggregate resources at distances close to the urban areas where most of the product is needed. In past years, most RAP was landfilled. Because RAP now can be reused in large amounts, pressure is taken off valuable landfill space, making more room for waste materials that are better suited for landfilling.

And because the residual asphalt contained in the RAP also can be reused, less petroleum is consumed for road construction, with attendant benefits in transport, refining and resource consumption.
For all these reasons, RAP deserves more exposure to the public and news media. It’s one more way to "paint roads green" in an era where "greener than thou" positioning wins points in the political arena and popular press.

The NAPA survey is a point of departure for this promotion. Let’s all think harder about the ways we can promote the positive environmental impact of reusing RAP in our pavements. It’s one more weapon we can use to defend road construction against those who would stop it.

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