In Japan, reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) has been used, and the recycling rate of those is now 99%. It means that the asphalt pavement is an effective recycling material. However, the effectiveness of recycling in termsof various environmental load matters such as CO2 emissions, energy consumptions, SOx emissions, etc, remains unclear. The total environmental loadthough the lifecycle is including material production, transportation, paving work, and waste disposal is not known. In this study, the environmental loads of pavement recycle methods were estimated for three cases using virgin aggregates, plant recycling aggregates, or in-place recycling. The results showed that the environmental loads when using recycled aggregateswere less than when using virgin materials, and were far less in the caseof in-place recycling, although the environmental loads sometimes increase when the machines for the in-place recycling need to be transported longdistances. Thus, recycling methods should be selected in consideration ofenvironmental loads.
Abstract