A new dry-mix additive for asphalts made with recycled rubber has recently been presented in the USA.

A new material based on recycled rubber aimed at extending the life of road surfaces is coming from the USA

A new dry-mix additive for asphalts made with recycled rubber has recently been presented in the USA. It is produced with a state-of-the-art technology known as SmartMIX™, developed by Liberty Tire Recycling – one of the main companies active in ELT recycling in the United States.

This new additive allows to extend the service life of a road surface: its peculiarity lies in the fact that it is ready for use and easy to use. It is suitable for every mix-design provided for road surfaces and it is compatible with the binding agents, additives and agents most commonly used for the production of asphalts.

After 40 year of extended use of the wet technology, even in the USA it is possible to observe a progressive spreading of a new approach to the dry technology in the production of asphalts modified with recycled rubber. This further technological innovation is the latest example of this trend. The development of this product in a context as the one of the United States, characterised by a long experience and in-depth knowledge of the advantages of the use of asphalts modified with recycled rubber allows to appreciate even more this piece of news that simplifies the operations by keeping the performances unaffected.

After a process of recycled rubber pre-digestion in a dedicated plant of Liberty Tire Recycling, the product is ready for use. It is then sent to the work places, where it is dosed as a filler in the mixing plant. The compound can be added to the conglomerate without any pre-mixing in the bitumen and it is compatible with the hot mixing processes and the traditional equipment.

Doug Carlson, vice president of Liberty Tire Recycling per Asphalt Products stated: “SmartMIX is a new additive that simplifies the use of recycled rubber in every asphalting process and it makes it as convenient as ever”. Indeed, the new additive allows to obtain compounds with performances that are equivalent to the ones made with other polymers but at a much lower cost.

The use of recycled rubber in the process of asphalt production gives asphalts greater resistance to cracks and, so, they last for longer. Moreover, it allows a reduction of noise generated by tyres when coming into contact with the surface of the road.