ASTM Works on Specs for Turning Tires into Asphalt Products
A growing need to recycle millions of tires discarded annually is the impetus for the continued development of a proposed new ASTM International specification that provides standards for converting tires into an asphalt product.
WK20240, Specification for Performance Graded Tire Rubber-Modified Asphalt Binder is being developed by Subcommittee D04.40 on Asphalt Specifications, under the jurisdiction of ASTM International Committee D04 on Road and Paving Materials.
"ASTM International continues to be a leader in recycling and sustainability," says George Way, a consultant and D04 member who notes that ASTM published the initial standard for use of crumb rubber from waste tires, ASTM D6114, Specification for Asphalt-Rubber Binder, in 1994. The proposed new standard applies to asphalt product that contains a minimum of 10 percent waste tire crumb rubber.
Way says that ASTM WK20240 was in part inspired by Assembly Bill 338, a piece of state legislation from California that sets a timetable for a large portion of waste tires to be usefully integrated into highway pavements. "California, as well as Arizona, Texas, and Florida, have long used asphalt-rubber in pavements with success," notes Way.
For technical Information, contact George Way, Scottsdale, Ariz. (phone: 480-990-9451; wayouta@cox.net). Committee D04 meets Dec. 9-11 at the December committee week in Miami Beach, Fla. For meeting or membership information, contact Daniel Smith (phone: 610-832-9727; dsmith@astm.org).