Turning waste into secondary raw materials for high performance asphalt

This paper discusses how to improve the sustainability of asphalt by reusing processed secondary waste materials, reducing the energy demand, and improving its service life. Every year Australia consumes approximately 10 million tonnes of raw materials to produce asphalt for constructing and maintaining flexible pavements. These raw materials comprise mainly non-renewable crushed aggregates, natural sand, hydrated lime, imported bitumen and polymers.   In the interests of improving the sustainability of asphalt this paper will look at measures to reduce the demand on non-renewable raw materials by substituting them with waste converted into secondary raw materials. The focus will be on using local secondary raw materials from waste with proven track records of performance to extend the service life of asphalt. *Publication of papers represents the opinion of author and does not necessarily represent the position of IPWEA NSW & ACT.