SACRAMENTO, Calif. (April 15, 2011) — The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) has awarded 48 grants worth $8.1 million to California cities and towns to fund rubberized asphalt pavement projects.
Twenty-eight cities received Targeted Incentive Grants worth $4.9 million to fund rubberized asphalt projects for municipalities with little or no experience using rubberized asphalt for major road projects, CalRecycle said. The remaining $3.2 million went to 20 cities for Chip Seal Grants for repair and maintenance of rubberized asphalt roads by new or repeat users.
Sixteen of the 28 Targeted Incentive Grant winners are first-time rubberized asphalt users, CalRecycle said. The agency estimated that the road projects funded by the grants will put some 1.2 million scrap tires to productive end-use.
Combining ground tire rubber with asphalt binder and other aggregates, rubberized asphalt concrete (RAC) lasts up to twice as long as traditional paving materials, as well as offering noise reduction and better traction, CalRecycle said.
California generates more than 40 million scrap tires annually, 11 million of which end up in landfills, the agency estimated.