The use of recycled rubber powder from End-of-Life Tyres (ELTs) has resulted in quiet, safer and environmentally friendly roads.

Its application is constantly growing in Italy, since it has extraordinary properties: it reduces the noise generated by vehicles by up to 7dB, it has a duration up to 3 times longer than traditional asphalts, considering the greater resistance to wear and tear over time, it does not cause the formation of cracks and holes in the ground, allowing a containment of maintenance costs over time.

This technology has more than 50 years of international experience: it is used in the USA, Sweden and also in Spain, and Italy has 38 provinces participating in the project. The asphalts with recycled rubber allow, in fact, to reduce the inconvenience of users and the impact on the environment.

According to Ecopneus, a non-profit company that manages the ELTs in Italy, more than 520 km of roads have already been built in our country with the use of this new technology, giving rise to an increase year after year of more than 170,000 square meters of new lanes in the country.

The roads with modified asphalts that have already been built decades ago, are constantly monitored and demonstrate mechanical and acoustic performance unchanged over time.

A recent experimentation on the Anas road network has demonstrated the exceptionality of these asphalts: low noise emission pavements, therefore, quieter roads, the use of “warm” technologies, i.e. at lower temperatures than traditional ones. From these tests it emerges, therefore, that the technical solution that, to date, allows to reduce the environmental impact while ensuring optimal performance is precisely the user that uses recycled rubber powder from ELTs.

The new End of Waste Decree, which will be soon published in the Official Journal, will determine an important increase in the use of recycled rubber because it defines the conditions and characteristics that make ELTs raw materials.

This national legislation will make it possible to overcome uncertainties and different interpretations of the current legislation and, in this way, will give a boost to recycling companies, also favouring the development of new technologies or stabilising existing ones.