International
Conference Showcases Recycled Material Uses
From
recycling asphalt pavement to finding new uses for lead paint removed
from steel bridges, the first international conference on the "Beneficial
Use of Recycled Materials in Transportation Applications," held
in Washington, DC, in November 2001, provided a broad forum for sharing
best practices and innovations. The conference brought together more
than 160 experts from 15 countries in North America, South America,
Europe, and Asia to address the use of recycled materials generated
from transportation, industrial, municipal, and mining processes in
transportation applications. Event sponsors included the University
of New Hampshire's Recycled Materials Resource Center (RMRC), Federal
Highway Administration (FHWA), National Asphalt Pavement Association,
National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, Rubber Pavements
Association, and the American Coal Ash Association.
The 3-day
conference offered more than 130 technical presentations on topics
such as programs, policy and analysis, materials applications and
demonstrations, and evaluation methodologies. It also offered the
opportunity to share ideas and experiences. "I appreciated the
chance to talk to researchers from other countries and learn about
their strategies for evaluating recycled and waste materials,"
says attendee Jeanne Hewitt of the New York State Department of Transportation.
A presentation
on "Minnesota's Experience in Implementing the Use of Recycled
Materials" made by Roger Olson, a Research Operations Engineer
for the Minnesota Department of Transportation (DOT), explained the
DOT's proactive stance on the use of recycled materials in transportation
applications. Minnesota's standard criteria for using recycled material
is that it must be:
·
Equal or better in engineering applications;
· Environmentally acceptable; and
· Equal or better in economic considerations.
"Minnesota
has gone through the evolutionary process of evaluating recycled materials:
the normal process of environmental assessment, laboratory evaluation,
and finally field tests," says Olson. This process has, at times,
led to the development of a market for a particular recycled material,
as was the case of using recycled asphalt pavement in hot-mix asphalt.
|
Even
though recycled materials might not be appropriate for all applications,
FHWA's Recycling Team recommends that they at least be considered
at the earliest possible stage of every project.
|
Kevin
Wideman, the Environmental Compliance Coordinator for the Missouri
DOT, delivered a presentation on "Lead-Paint Recycling in Missouri,"
which described the DOT's innovative lead paint removal techniques.
Prior to 1990, paint removed from steel bridges was allowed to fall
to the ground. When health and environmental concerns over this practice
were identified, sand-blasted paint was then collected and stored
in drums in landfills, with some bridges producing more than 100 drums
of residue. In 1994, the Missouri DOT began recovering the lead through
a smelting process that resulted in the recycling of hundreds of tons
of former waste and saving valuable landfill space.
In an
effort to improve the paint removal process, the DOT purchased two
abrasive recycler blasters in 1996. These machines remove lead paint
with vacuum washers and magnetic separators that reduce blast residue
by an estimated 80 percent. Instead of 50 drums from an average bridge,
there are now only 6 to 10 drums of residue that require the smelting
process. These and other developments have greatly reduced the cost
of disposal and eliminated any long-term liability for the department.
A research
needs session was held at the end of the conference that included
a panel of experts from FHWA, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials,
the Association of State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials,
and industry. The panel is currently working on a white paper that
will help direct future efforts in recycled material research. The
paper will be delivered to the National Science Foundation and Federal
and State agencies.
A team
is currently working on releasing the conference's proceedings in
book form this year. The RMRC will announce the book's availability
on its Web site at www.rmrc.unh.edu.
For more
information on the conference and the use of recycled materials in
transportation applications, contact Taylor Eighmy at RMRC, 603-862-1065
(fax: 603-862-3957; email: t.eighmy@rmrc.unh.edu).
The
FHWA Recycling Team recently completed work on an FHWA recycling
policy, which clarifies the agency's longstanding support for
the appropriate use of recycled materials in highway applications.
The team now plans to embark on a series of reviews of state-of-the-practice
operations and innovations. These reviews will focus on high-priority
opportunities for using recycled materials in transportation projects,
with an emphasis on dispelling misconceptions and eliminating
unnecessary barriers to recycling. Understanding that there are
many different materials that can be recycled for transportation
purposes, the team decided to focus its resources on portland
cement concrete for its 2002 campaign.
Even though recycled materials might not be appropriate for all
applications, FHWA's Recycling Team recommends that they at least
be considered at the earliest possible stage of every project,
especially from the financial, engineering, and environmental
aspects. To support this process, the team is planning to provide
a "tool kit" that outlines recycling information resources,
a recycling training course, and a cadre of speakers to discuss
recycling at regional, National, and international conferences.
For more information on the work of the FHWA Recycling Team, contact
Jason Harrington at FHWA, 202-366-1576 (email: k.jason.harrington@fhwa.dot.gov). |
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..................................................
Articles
in this issue:
In
brief...
Highway
infrastructure: protecting the nation's investment
North
Carolina takes a new approach to financing road maintenance
Champions
of highway quality honored
International
conference showcases recycled material uses
Highway
technology calendar
