NAPA In the News - Steady Increase in Asphalt Sustainability

The Impact of Asphalt Sustainability Infographics: The latest NAPA/FHWA survey of asphalt producers' use of recycled materials and warm-mix asphalt finds that almost a third of all asphalt produced during the 2014 construction season was produced using warm-mix asphalt technologies.

The survey, conducted by NAPA under contract to FHWA, found that 114 million tons of WMA was produced in 2014. This is a 7 percent increase from 2013 and greater than 577 percent increase in the use of warm mix since the survey was first conducted in 2009. In the 2009 survey, less than 5 percent of asphalt pavement mix tonnage was produced using warm-mix technologies; in 2014, it was more than 32.3 percent.

The survey also found that about 71.9 million tons of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) and 1.96 million tons of reclaimed asphalt shingles (RAS) were used in new asphalt pavement mixes in the United States during 2014. Reclaiming and reusing the asphalt cement in RAP and RAS saved about $2.8 billion in 2013 compared to the use of virgin materials.

Producers were also asked about ground tire rubber, steel and blast furnace slag, and other waste material repurposed into pavements. Although national estimates of usage were not calculated, survey respondents reported using more than 1.2 million tons of these materials in 2014 to produce more than 8 million tons of asphalt pavement mixes.

The survey was conducted in mid-2014. Results from 228 companies with 1,185 plants in all 50 states, along with data from State Asphalt Pavement Associations for 35 states, were used to compile the report. A full copy of the survey, including state-by-state appendixes can be downloaded from www.AsphaltPavement.org/recycling.