Opportunities for environmentally improved asphalt recycling in Sweden Supporting information

Sofiia Miliutenko, Anna Björklund, Annica Carlsson

Division of Environmental Strategies Research– fms Department of Urban Planning and Environment School of Architecture and the Built Environment Royal Institute of Technology 100 44 Stockholm

Title: Opportunities for environmentally improved asphalt recycling in Sweden Authors: Sofiia Miliutenko, Anna Björklund, Annica Carlsson TRITA-INFRA-FMS 2012:1

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Table of Contents Preface ........................................................................................................................................ 4 1

Definitions and Glossary .................................................................................................... 4

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Method- Interviews ............................................................................................................ 5

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Material flow of asphalt and asphalt recycling in Sweden................................................. 5

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Appendix Questionnaire .................................................................................................... 8

References ................................................................................................................................ 10

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Preface This supporting information is provided for the manuscript: Miliutenko, S., Björklund, A. and Carlsson A. (2012). Opportunities for environmentally improved asphalt recycling: The example of Sweden It is a part of a larger project called ¨Environmentally improved recycling¨ performed in cooperation with Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Swedish Environmental Research Institute (IVL) and University of Gävle (HiG) within the research program ¨Towards Sustainable Waste Management¨ (TOSUWAMA). The aim of this programme is to identify policy instruments and other strategic decisions that contribute to the development of a more sustainable waste management.

1 Definitions and Glossary Terms

Definition

Asphalt (or asphalt concrete)

Mixture of natural virgin raw materials: sand, aggregate, filler and bitumen (EAPA, 2005).

Recycling

Adding the reclaimed asphalt to new asphalt mixes, with the aggregates and the old bitumen performing the same function as in their original application (EAPA, 2005).

Rejuvenation

Restoration of reclaimed binder properties (Karlsson, 2002)

Reuse

Utilization of reclaimed asphalt as foundation, fill or base course material, with the recovered aggregate and bitumen performing a lesser function than in the original application (EAPA, 2005).

Remix

Type of hot-in place asphalt recycling that consists of warming up, scarifying of existing asphalt, mixing it with new asphalt, and spreading out on road again as one layer (Hellman et al., 2011).

Repave

Type of hot-in place asphalt recycling that consists of warming up, scarifying and levelling of old asphalt mix, and after that a layer of new asphalt mix is paved on top (Hellman et al., 2011).

Regarding the methods of asphalt recycling, the following translation from Swedish to English was made: ¨Kall¨- Cold, ¨Halvvarm¨- Warm, ¨Varm¨- Hot.

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2 Method- Interviews By doing interviews with the key stakeholders (on national, local and project level) it was aimed to explore main obstacles to increased rate of asphalt recycling in Sweden and to identify possibilities for improving the current practices. The interviews were held in a semi-structural way. A questionnaire (see Appendix ) was sent out to the key stakeholders before each interview. Three types of responses were received before and during the interviews: 1) interviewees answered each question from the questionnaire and then those answers were discussed during the interview; 2) interviewees agreed to have an open discussion regarding asphalt recycling in Sweden, as exact answers for the questions were unknown; 3) interviewees sent their reports written about asphalt recycling in Sweden (like for instance, Tyllgren (2003), Ulmgren and Lundström (2004), NVF (2011) and others). In some cases all three types of responses were received from one interviewee. The main stakeholder groups that were contacted during this study are shown in Table 1. Table 1 Main stakeholder groups contacted

Group

Organisation

Contractors Contractors Users, property owners

NCC Roads Skanska The Swedish Transport Administration Gothenburg municipality VTI (the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute)

Users, property owners Research and Development

3 Material flow of asphalt and asphalt recycling in Sweden About 8 Mton of asphalt is produced in Sweden every year (NVF, 2011). Asphalt is used for different types of pavement infrastructure, such as: highways, roads and streets, railroads and transit lines, airfields, land-side port facilities and others (Harvey, 2010). Thus the owners of this infrastructure can be subdivided into three groups: State (managed by the Swedish Traffic Administration), Municipalities and Industry (including airports). By 2010, the total length of the road network in Sweden was about 584 500 km including both paved and unpaved portions (Oscarsson, 2010). Municipalities own about 11% from the total length of roads, State- about 23% and private owners- about 66%, which includes a large share of unpaved forest roads that are not open for public (Anderman, 2011; Oscarsson, 2010). 5

Asphalt concrete and stone mastic asphalt are dominant in Sweden comprising of 80-90% of surfacing (Enell et al., 2010). The approximate length of roads paved by asphalt concrete is 140 000 km (ibid.). Assuming that about 2 000 ton/km of asphalt concrete (as average) is laid over current Swedish roads, it can be estimated that the total stock of asphalt stored in paved roads in Sweden is about 300 Mton (Figure 1). However it is difficult to trace the exact number.

Figure 1. Total material flow of asphalt in Sweden for State roads, municipalities and private owned roads average estimated data during 2001-2011 (NVF (2011); Vägverket (2004); Horvath (2003))

The life-length of asphalt varies depending on the type of road and the average life-length is assumed to be about 15-20 years. After the end of service, reclaimed asphalt is usually recycled, reused or disposed at landfill (Figure 1). There are only few cases in Sweden where old asphalt is disposed at landfill. If disposed, usually it is tar-containing asphalt that can be recycled only using special ¨cold¨ methods. However only small volumes of tar-containing asphalt are left in Sweden now (Tyllgren, 2011). About 1-1.5 Mton of asphalt is recycled or reused in Sweden every year. According to the recent survey made by NVF (2011) which covered 90% of the Swedish asphalt market, about 56% of asphalt in Sweden is recycled using ¨hot in-plant¨ recycling, 26%- hot recycling inplace (remixing) and 18%- cold and warm recycling in-plant. Practices of asphalt recycling are different among three actors: Swedish Road Administration, Municipalities and Industry. About 66 % of RAP is recycled into new asphalt concrete during 6

maintenance activities of State roads (NVF, 2011). As average, about 500 000 ton of RAP is used for production of new asphalt and about 300 000 ton is reused as unbound materials (fillers) (NVF, 2011). The largest Swedish municipalities (like Stockholm, Malmö and Göteborg) have management strategies for asphalt recycling in the maintenance of their paved infrastructure (Sandin, 2011; Tyllgren, 2011). As far as other municipalities are concerned, their interest in asphalt recycling varies between having requirements for using RAP in their contracts to just being in favor of asphalt recycling, but having no policies or other requirements for RAP (Hellman and Morgin, 2009). Many municipalities have a demand for including about 10% of RAP in production of new asphalt (NVF, 2009). However certain municipalities and private owners lack a systematic approach to asphalt recycling (Sandin, 2011; Tyllgren, 2011). It can be assumed that about 200 000 - 500 000 ton of asphalt is recycled or reused in municipalities and private owned paved areas (Jacobson, 2011). It is generally difficult for municipalities to make use of the same technologies for asphalt recycling as for the roads owned and managed by the Swedish Transport Administration. Since the Swedish Transport Administration has the clearest regulations regarding asphalt recycling, their rules are also implemented in some Swedish municipalities (Hellman and Morgin, 2009). However the choice of recycling technique depends on the size and geographic situation of the municipality (Tyllgren, 2003). When asphalt plants are situated at a long distance from the construction site, RAP is used very often as crushed aggregates or gravel of a good quality as it produces no dust and no segregation (Tyllgren, 2011).

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4 Appendix Questionnaire QUESTIONS ABOUT THE INTERVIEWEE: Organisation/Company________________________________________________________ Name:______________________________________________________________________ Title:_______________________________________________________________________ Tel:________________________________________________________________________ e-mail:_____________________________________________________________________

QUESTIONS REGARDING MATERIAL FLOW Could you fill in the data gaps or correct the existing data in the Material flow of asphalt in Sweden (please fill in the table below)? Type of users

Trafikverket Municipalities

Questions

1.

Asphalt production (Mton/year)

2.

Approximate Stock of asphalt (Mton): Highways, roads, streets

3.

Volumes of old asphalt that is removed (Mton)

4.

Volumes of old asphalt being stored currently at stock (warehouse)

5.

Volumes of old asphalt taken to landfill (Mton)

6.

Transport distances from site to landfill

7.

Volumes of asphalt (Mton) that is recycled/reused, and specify according to the method used: in-plant recycling (Mton or %): cold warm hot

Average transport distances from site to the recycling plant in-place recycling (Mton or %):

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Industry

Total

Cold (cold remixing) Cold (stabilisation) Cold (milling) warm (warm remixing) Hot (Repaving) Hot (Remixing) other (Mton or %)- as asphalt granular base course 8. What are the volumes of RAP used for the following end-products? (Mton or %) or see the alternative subdivision (as in question #9) surface course binder course base course sub-base or fill 9. Alternative subdivision (to the question #8): What are the volumes of RAP used for the following end-products? (Mton or %) Production of new asphalt Production of unbound layers 10. What amount of newly produced asphalt contains RAP

SPECIFIC QUESTIONS •

What percentage of RAP (reclaimed asphalt pavement) is allowed to add to the newly produced asphalt in Sweden?

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What percentage of RAP is added in practice to the newly produced asphalt in Sweden/your company?

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Are there any specific targets set for improved asphalt recycling in Sweden?

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What do you think are the future trends in asphalt recycling in Sweden (or globally)?

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Could you recommend me to contact other stakeholders regarding this matter?

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References Anderman, A. (2011). Väghållning och drift, http://www.skl.se/vi_arbetar_med/tillvaxt_och_samhallsbyggnad/infrastruktur/vaghall ning [accessed on April, 2011]. EAPA (2005). Industry Statement on the recycling of asphalt mixes and use of waste of asphalt pavements. Brussels, Belgium. Enell, A., McNally, C., Wayman, M., Raaberg, J., Pihl, K. A., Wik, O., Licbinsky, R., Parry, T., and Andersson-Sköld, Y. (2010). State of the Art on Risk Assessment and Life Cycle Analysis of Reclaimed Asphalt. Harvey, J. (2010). Environmental Assessment of Pavement Alternatives: Decision-Making in Light of Current Knowledge and Unresolved Questions. Paper presented at the UCLA Lake Arrowhead Symposium. October 17-19, 2010. Hellman, F., Karlsson, R., Arm, M., Wadstein, E., Viman, L., Wiik, O., Åhnberg, H., and Franzén, G. (2011). Swedish experience of demolition and recycling of road materials for use in new roads. VTI. Hellman, L., and Morgin, A. (2009). Återvinning av asfalt, Luleå tekniska universitet, Luleå. Horvath, A. (2003). Life Cycle Environmental and Economic Assessment of Using Recycled Materials for Asphalt Pavements. University of California, Transportation Center (UCTC), Berkeley, USA. Jacobson, T. (2011). Personal Communication. Trafikverket, Stockholm. Karlsson, R. (2002). Investigations of binder rejuvenation related to asphalt recycling, Doctoral thesis, KTH, Stockholm. KTH (2012). Environmental Systems Analysis Tools, http://www.kth.se/abe/om_skolan/organisation/inst/lwr/grupper/ema/research/esatools/environmental-systems-analysis-tools-1.260777 [accessed on 2012-01-20]. NVF (2009). Huvudämne 2009. Miljöanpassade beläggningar. Kunskapsöversikt från Sverige. NVF (2011). Huvudämne 2011. Asfaltåtervinning. Kunskapöversikt från Sverige. Oscarsson, J.-E. (2010). Personal Communication. E-mail regarding the length of the Swedish roadnet. Trafikverket, Borlänge Sandin, Å. (2011). Personal Communication. Trafikkontoret, Göteborg. Tyllgren, P. (2003). Kretslopp i anläggningssektor- probleminventering och åtgärdsförslag. Skanska, Malmö. Tyllgren, P. (2011). Personal communication. Ulmgren, N., and Lundström, R. (2004). Teknisk ock ekonomisk värdering av asfaltmassor med returasfalt. NCC. Vägverket (2004). Handbok för återvinning av asfalt. Publikation 2004:91.

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