If a car owner decides to change the car tires, then the worn-out tires will become waste that may return to the road. However, in this case it is a part of noise-reducing asphalt paving, where the waste tire rubber finds its further application. Mr. Jiří Plitz, Head of the Fuel & Asphalt Development Department of Paramo, a.s., presented in the APROCHEM 2013 Conference, at the Waste Forum Symposium, a lecture on possibilities of using the waste tire rubber for road construction purposes.“At present, the applications of ground rubber in asphalt roads brings about the best utilisation of worn-out tires”, mentioned in his lecture Mr. Jiří Plitz and pointed out - at the same time - that their use should be preferred to their incineration for energy production in power plants and cement works. Simultaneously, the importance of the asphalt-rubber binders in road structures consists in their noise-reducing properties as well as decreased probability of skidding or slipping of vehicle tires.
At present, the use of ground rubber in road asphalts us popular throughout the world and this technology is compliant with the principles of the permanent-sustainable development. However, Mr. Plitz admitted at the same time that the production of these asphalt mixtures is difficult as regards the process but, if mastered, it would bring a promising outlook for the future. “If all goes well, we can look forward to more quiet roads and better environmental conditions”, claims Mr. Plitz. The utilisation of recycled (ground) tire rubber itself is a low-costing operation.
The road “rubber-asphalt” material is well known in the professional community from the sixties of the last century; during this time, various experts tried to use this material in a range of ways, unfortunately often without any success. Right now, two different trends prevail essentially in the sphere of the rubber granulate utilisation. The first trend consists in the preparation of the above-mentioned binders and mixtures, where concentrated “rubber-asphalt” materials are produced; this trend mostly prevails in North America. The second trend offers a less concentrated product in the so-called “terminal” production process, which can be operated in petroleum refineries.
Paramo, a.s. has in its product portfolio the terminal-type asphalt-rubber binders under the commercial name of Mofalt RMB (Rubber Modified Bitumen), the properties of which are at the level of polymer-modified improved-performance binders.
Noise reduction properties of road surfaces represent a contemporary issue even at home (e.g. in Pardubice, where a replacement of asphalt surfaces in the northern part of the city’s through-highway took place in this year). In connection with this, Mr. Plitz’s paper will be published in a modified version also in the professional journal, the Waste Forum.