Cities put bounce in motorists’ drive with rubberized asphalt: Longer lasting streets and quieter neighborhoods are added payoffs, October 17, 2006, Press Release

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California Integrated Waste Management Board

State Awards $175,000 for paving long lasting quieter roads: Recycling old tires is good for environment and bottom line

SACRAMENTO—Cities and counties with paving projects on hand, can do their neighborhoods and the rest of California a good deed by recycling California waste tires into the mix. To lend a helping hand, the California Integrated Waste Management Board will approve grants that pay the start-up cost differentials between using rubberized asphalt concrete (RAC) and regular concrete.

“The use of waste tires for products such as RAC helps eliminate the unlawful disposal and stockpiling of waste tires resulting in many environmental benefits for all of us,” said Board Chair Margo Reid Brown. “Rubberized asphalt is proving to be a better solution for local cities and counties as they witness long term savings.”

The $175,000 grant will help the pay the differential cost of paving parts of State highway 4 in Contra Costa County with 24,000 tons of RAC by the State Route 4 Bypass Authority. Since July 2006, the Board has awarded $2,150,000 in RAC grants to local governmental offices around the state.

The benefits of paving with RAC are many. Studies have shown RAC to be a long-lasting replacement over conventional asphalt that significantly reduces the level of traffic noise in surrounding neighborhoods. A two-inch layer of the material can save up to $20,000 per lane mile compared to a four-inch thick layer of conventional asphalt and uses more than 2,000 waste tires over that distance. Moreover, RAC resists cracking, retains its original color so that road markings are more clearly visible and has the potential to reduce the number and size of illegal waste tire collections in California.

RAC is made by blending ground up waste tire carcasses with asphalt, and then applying the mix to road surfaces, RAC has been successfully used in street paving projects by state and local transportation agencies throughout California and Arizona.

California produces more than 40 million waste tires annually. Although approximately 75 percent of this amount is recycled, the state faces the challenge of dealing with roughly 10 million surplus tires annually in which the majority end up in our landfills and some of which end up in illegal stockpiles. Over the past few years, California has used nearly 10 million waste tires in RAC paving projects, saving them from disposal.

For more details on the program, please view the resolution approved by the Board.

The California Integrated Waste Management Board is the State’s leading authority on recycling and waste reduction. It promotes a zero waste California in partnership with local government, industry, and the public. This means reducing waste whenever possible, promoting the management of all materials to their highest and best use, and protecting public health and safety and the environment.