The Never Ending Road: How the Asphalt Recycling Process Works

Turn on your TV in the Dallas, Texas area and you might see the PSA about how to properly recycle plastics, paper, and aluminum. However, a lot of people don’t realize that asphalt pavements are the most recycled material in the country by weight. Around 80 million tons of asphalt is recycled in the US each year.

Recycled hot, warm, or cold mix asphalt can be just as high or even higher quality than asphalts derived from original source materials.

How does it work?

The aggregates within the asphalt (rocks, sand, gravel) can be crushed up and reused while maintaining their sturdiness. The warm or hot mix asphalt cement, which holds the aggregates together, is also able to function the way it did originally: as an adhesive to keep the asphalt road or parking lot held together.

Asphalt cement changes from solid to liquid at higher temperatures, so when the old hot mix or warm mix asphalt is reprocessed and reheated, it regains the character of when it was first mixed.

Cold mix asphalt can also be recycled, but requires additional rejuvenating agents to be applied to the mixture.

The process is simple to explain, but getting a high-quality asphalt mix requires expertise and experience. Picking the right supplier is essential to getting your surface the right mix for your environment. For the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, there is no better asphalt company than TexasBit for your construction project.