Vancouver began testing a new warm mix asphalt technique that uses 20% less heat for production and incorporates recycled plastic. The process extracts wax from recycled plastics to add to asphalt. Vancouver has paved several streets with this recycled material asphalt and will continue trials, aiming to make the city greener by reducing waste and using recycled content in infrastructure projects.

1. Stuart Val Staker
Innovations in
Asphalt

2. Innovations in Asphalt, By Stuart Val Staker
Several months ago, Vancouver began testing a new paving process using
“warm mix” technology. While traditional asphalt requires high temperatures to
keep it liquefied, warm mix asphalt uses 20 percent less heat since it can be
produced at lower temperatures. This technique has existed for some time;
however, Vancouver has incorporated a new green element to the warm mix
paving process: post-consumer recycled plastic. The Toronto-based company
GreenMantra Technologies has identified a technique to extract wax from
recycled plastics and transform it into asphalt. Vancouver has used the
substance to pave several stretches of road throughout the city and will
continue trials throughout 2013. Paving its streets with recycled materials will
put Vancouver on the road to its goal of becoming the greenest city in the
world by 2020.

3. Innovations in Asphalt, By Stuart Val Staker
About the author: Stuart Val Staker owned and operated a paving and
construction company in Salt Lake City for nearly three decades. Today, S.
Val Staker focuses his professional energy on the real estate development
sector.