Why Is Recycled Asphalt Better For Your Parking Lot Project?

Recycling anything is good for the environment. When we talk about asphalt, paving your parking lot with recycled aggregate is an excellent and cost-effective option. 

Recycled asphalt is all around us. More than 80% of the asphalt removed from roads and highways is recycled and used for residential and commercial applications. Overall, asphalt is one of the most recycled materials in the US.

At Straight Edge Contractors, we pave parking lots in Las Cruces, NM, with both new and recycled asphalt. Click here to get an estimate.  

Here’s why you should use recycled materials for paving when constructing or repairing your parking lot. 

1. Conserve The Environment

To start off, recycled asphalt is an eco-friendly paving option. It reduces construction wastage since the paving materials will not be sent to a landfill. Moreover, natural resources are conserved when mineral particles produced are recycled during the parking lot paving process.  

Looking at the big picture, using old asphalt reduces the amount of oil needed during construction, leading to lower demand for foreign oil. 

You can also create a positive image for your business by using recycled paving materials. Promoting yourself as a socially responsible company also helps to attract more customers. 

2. Save Money

Moving on, you can save money by using old asphalt. And if asphalt is recycled on-site, you can also lower transportation costs. For asphalt contractors, recycled asphalt reduces costs on energy, materials, and transportation, which will lower the project’s overall cost.

Moreover, asphalt can be recycled and reused multiple times. This means you can continue to use the same asphalt for milling and overlays or minor resurfacing. 

3. Improve Quality

Asphalt is one of the best materials for paving. And you can increase the quality of your asphalt pavement by using recycled asphalt. 

Recycling asphalt improves HMA mixes and asphalt stiffness, which protects against cracking and rutting. This, in turn, helps to save maintenance and repair costs over time. 

4. How Is Asphalt Recycled?

Asphalt recycling begins with milling – a process where the pavement’s top layer is removed without disturbing the sub-base. Recycling is usually performed on asphalt taken from the top layer when the foundation is still intact. 

The milled asphalt is taken to the plant, where it is screened for impurities and sized again for reuse. 

As already mentioned, asphalt companies can also recycle on-site using pulverization. This process involves grinding up the surface layer and blending the asphalt layers with the sub-base layers. Essentially, pulverization creates a new foundation using recycled paving materials. 

This is an excellent way to make your existing pavement stronger. Pulverization also saves time and money since the old base layers don’t have to be removed, and you don’t need to pay or wait for hauling new material.

To sum up, recycled asphalt is a viable option for paving. You can save money, ensure a sturdier pavement, and play your part in conserving the environment. 

Business owners in Las Cruces, NM, can reach out to Straight Edge Contractors for parking lot paving. Click here to get a free estimate.

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