Members of an American delegation that visited several European countries to observe pavement recycling techniques related their findings at a U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) event held in Houston.
The U.S. delegation visited Germany, France, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark, meeting with government officials and researchers and private contractors in those nations.
According to a report in the newsletter of the Asphalt Recycling & Reclaiming Association (ARRA), Annapolis, Md., the Netherlands has a formal highway construction sustainability policy that minimizes the use of virgin aggregates and advocates the use of recycled ones.
Nonetheless, most of the countries visited also require that recycled materials meet the same specifications as virgin materials, and that they provide equal performance and longevity.
Attendees at the Houston event included highway agency staff, recycling advocates, researchers, contractors and their suppliers. Among the follow-up steps suggested or set in motion at the workshop were establishing a national steering committee to further the concept of recycling in the highway repair environment.
The committee would ideally consist of representatives from state and federal highway agencies and from the private sector. The committee would also explore legislation that would help promote recycled materials demonstration projects.