Asphalt recycling has many benefits for national economy and nation’s transportation system, reconstruction, rehabilitation, asphalt contractors and manufacturers, maintenance in order to continue serving the needs of the economies and traveling public.
Strong incentives which cause increasing RAP use are:
• Increased costs of material and energy
• Binder costs rising over the time
• Resources of new virgin aggregate material becoming increasingly rare
• Growing environmental concerns and protection
• Growing demand of asphalt during last decade
• Use higher RAP quantities and using of RAP in more mixes (i.e. surfaces)
• Increased availability of RAP from projects
The use of RAP provides the following Benefits:
• Reduced cost in the production of asphalt mixtures due to binder and aggregate replacement.
• Reduction in energy requirements to heat virgin aggregates & binders
• Environmental benefits from the conservation of virgin binder and aggregates, including consideration of resource extraction, transportation, and processing.
• Reduction in the cost of material disposal and a diversion of waste material from landfills.
• Reduction in the production of greenhouse gases and other emissions.
• Improved resistance to permanent deformation and reducing potential of mix to rut due to the utilization of harder binders.
