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3.2.3 Kaisidis ABTE

This good practice involves the use of recovered asphalt mix in a new production. The reclaimed asphalt mixture is the result of the asphalt or scraping asphalt. Demolition is carried out using road machinery such as the excavator while scraping is done using an asphalt cutter. After the material is transferred to the worksite, this material is processed to separate the material containing the highest percentage of asphalt and graded in grain size.

This treatment is done by using the granulator containing special shredders that do not polish the recovered bitumen but repel it. With this technology, the asphalt contained retains all its properties while the sieves give the material the correct grading required. The recycled asphalt mixture then goes into the production process of the new asphalt mixture. There in special mechanical equipment it is heated and then mixed with the raw materials, asphalt and aggregates.

The most important challenge that would prevent this cyclical recovery of the recovered asphalt mix would be the lack of this material. Today this challenge does not exist because the percentage of road rebuilding and therefore the acquisition of recovered asphalt mix is much higher than the construction of new roads that do not offer reclaimed asphalt mix. This practice improves the quality characteristics  of the final asphalt mixture as well as the envionmental benefits from the recovery of waste. 

Tests have shown that the use of 30% recycled asphalt mix increases up to 150% the properties and mechanical strengths of the new asphalt mixture. The primary raw material savings are 30% as well as the recycled bituminous mixture used in the manufacture of new ones. The use of recycled materials ensure the reduction of the use of primary sources of materials as well as reduction of waste deposits in the environment.

The reclaimed asphalt mixture ceases to be a waste, but it is a precious commodity with rich properties and mechanical strengths that offer economy and reduce the pollution of the natural environment In order to properly evaluate the properties of the recovered asphalt mixture, the material to be used in the production should be controlled for both its primary asphalt content and its granulometric grading32.