BENEFITS OF RAP

Where do roads go when they die?

High quality, high performance RAP pavement. (County of Brant)

ORBA wants government to recycle and reuse Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP). Likewise, for Reclaimed Concrete Materials (RCM), a product of old concrete roadways and construction demolition waste. The benefits of using RAP and/or RCM would be beneficial to the environment and reduce road building costs.

The construction and maintenance of pavements consume more than 6.5 million tonnes of asphalt and 75 million tonnes of rock and mineral fragments, known as aggregate, each year in Ontario. Both asphalt and virgin aggregates are considered non-renewable resources that should be consumed strategically to allow future generations to continue to benefit from such resources. The use of RAP in pavements is considered a sustainable approach to road building that leads to costeffective spending on infrastructure and diverts large amounts of solid waste from landfills. Reducing asphalt consumption and using locally available recycled materials further limits greenhouse gas emissions.

There are many environmental and economic benefits to using RAP. In 2019, the Ontario Good Roads Association (OGRA) estimated that 6.7 million tonnes of RAP were being stockpiled at 114 facilities across Ontario. If the road building industry were able to use all that RAP in producing asphalt for new roads, it would conserve 6.4 million tonnes of virgin aggregate or the equivalent of 530,000 full dump trucks. We would be able to conserve 15 million cubic meters of fresh water, enough water for 56,500 households for one year. Furthermore, 1,565 lane kilometres of road could be paved, which is the equivalent to building a road from Windsor to Ottawa and back. The most staggering statistic is that 125 thousand tonnes of greenhouse gases would be saved from being emitted into the atmosphere.

In Ontario, RAP is utilized cautiously as only two-thirds of municipalities allow it to be used in the mix design of asphalt pavements. Most municipalities only use RAP in the base layer, whereas the surface layer provides the most benefit. MTO currently allows RAP use in specific on-site situations as they have concerns about the potential of premature

OGRA estimates that 6.7 million tonnes of RAP were stockpiled in Ontario in 2019. If the industry were able to use RAP in producing new road, it would conserve:

6.4 Million Tonnes of conserved virgin aggregates (8% of Ontario’s annual infrastructure use)

530 K Dump trucks

15 million m3 of conserved fresh water

56.5 K Household for 1 year

2M bbl of bitumen cement (335K Tonnes)

$270 million in savings

1,565 lane kilometers of extra paving

Windsor to Ottawa and back!

125 Thousand Tonnes of GHG that are not emitted

Coarse or large fractionated RAP.

pavement cracking. The road building industry will continue to work with MTO to evaluate the durability and performance challenges of RAP use to ensure the highest quality pavement for Ontario’s roads while continuing to protect the environment.

ORBA will continue to promote the responsible use of RAP through education, technical dialogue and advocacy with Ontario municipalities and the MTO in a time where the sustainability of natural resources and limiting greenhouse gas emissions are of paramount importance.

These opinion columns are excerpted from monthly columns published online through a partnership between ORBA and Metroland Media.