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The NYC Department of Transportation announced Wednesday that 6.64 โlane milesโ of Brooklyn streets have been paved in a pilot of asphalt mixes made with 50% recycled roadway material. โExpanding the use of recycled road material in our asphalt production will not only cut costs, it will also cut emissions,โ NYC DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said in a release timed to commemorate the cityโs Climate Week. โItโs a win for us, a win for New Yorkers, and a win for the planet.โ
NYC leads the country in the use of recycled asphalt, with its current mixes containing 40% recycled materials, doubling the nationwide average of roughly 20%, according to DOT. In FY24, NYC DOT incorporated 256,392 tons of recycled asphalt in its pavement produced in-house.
This pilot is a key step to expand NYC DOTโs vision of sustainability, improve savings and reduce impacts to the environment. When NYC DOT resurfaces a street, it first mills the existing roadway. NYC DOT is recapturing that milled material to use in its asphalt mixes. In addition to the environmental benefits, the more milled asphalt NYC DOT reuses, the less stone from quarries the agency needs to purchase, saving money for New York City residents, and reducing environmental impacts from quarry mining.
Additionally, expanding to citywide use of asphalt that is 50% recycled roadway material has the potential to divert at least 200 tons of waste from landfills each day, cutting emissions from transportation.
At the conclusion of the pilot, the agency will analyze costs and operational impacts with the goal of implementing long term changes to production.
