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Known in the United States as asphalt, bitumen is the most recycled material on Earth. Prized for its binding capabilities, structural strength, and temperature resistance, asphalt is used in everything from roads to car parks to roofs. In 2019, the United States produced 420 million tons of asphalt at more than 3,600 production sites.

As a petroleum product, asphalt can be harmful to the environment to produce new. However, there is an upside: asphalt is a 100% renewable construction resource. Asphalt has a circular lifestyle. Once it reaches the end of its life as a road or roof, asphalt can be picked up by a recycling company. Recycling companies extract usable asphalt from extraneous waste, then resell the recovered materials to builders for paving, shingling, waterproofing, and more. Roughly 99% of all asphalt pavement is recovered every year, protecting property and planet at the same time.

But how does asphalt recycling work? It is a 4 step, closed loop recycling process. Take roof shingles for example. First, the post ground waste asphalt shingle is ground into coarse chunks to remove nail debris. Next, shingle chunks are mixed with a specialized solvent to create a fluid slurry that dissolves the bitumen. Solid waste sinks to the bottom of the tank while the relevant materials rise to the surface. As a final step, the remaining solution is heated to separate all solvents from the oil. This allows solvent to be saved andthe oil to be cleanly packaged.

Today, the asphalt recovery market is a $7.1 billion dollar industry. There are more than 50 roofing recovery sites in more than 20 states, with regional concentration around the American Midwest and South. As asphalt demand in the United States is projected to rise 3% every year, recycling every available source of asphalt is becoming more important.

In the northeastern state of Vermont, shingle recycling has become mandatory. More states are expected to follow. Asphalt recycling benefits from recycling and sustainability programs because they provide companies with the resources and cost savings necessary to make operations viable. On the federal level, asphalt recycling helps the country address the needs presented by the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, a passed law that encourages road improvements across the nation.

Asphalt recycling benefits everyone. It’s a plentiful resource; the average shingled roof provides enough asphalt to pave 200 feet (61 meters) of a 2 lane highway in America. Processing costs fall to $25 per batch when recycled asphalt is used. Because recycled asphalt is more cost effective than buying new, American taxpayers save more than $1.8 billion during road construction projects.

The benefits go beyond the fiscal. Recycling asphalt prevents 2.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere. That’s up to a 61% reduction of greenhouse gasses! By recycling old roofs, 11 million tons of shingle waste is kept out of the landfill. 10 million of those tons are construction scraps from installations and tear-offs from the re-roofing process. Asphalt recycling is an environmentalist’s dream.

On top of all that, asphalt recycling can even have political benefits. By recycling asphalt in perpetuity, the United States reduces its dependence on foreign oil sources. At its worst in 2014, foreign oil was costing the country $116 billion for 7.86 million barrels per day. Today, oil prices are once again extremely high due to geopolitical events. In order for the United States and its allies to effectively sanction belligerent oil exporters, they need to find better ways to utilize the petroleum products they already have. Asphalt recycling’s a boost in all directions.

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