On the Road Again for Old Tires

The idea for recycling tires into paving material started with Alan Bilinsky from the US Embassy in Israel. He put the Israelis in touch with Americans who were already recycling tires for roads. However, when the company tried a US blend, it disintegrated on the Israeli roads, which can be scorched with temperatures hot enough to fry an egg in the summer without the benefit of rain to cool them down.

Israel's climate and raw materials are different than those in the United States. So although making asphalt from recycled materials is just like baking a cake, says Israel National Roads Company R&D branch director Adrian Valentin Cotrus, “we are not working with the same flour, oven, and local temperatures. Our local rubber is the same, but in order to implement the technology, we have to consider the surface bitumen [element in the road], the different climate, and what's being provided by the local asphalt factories.”

Developers anticipate that their technology can be applied in countries in the Middle East and elsewhere with similar climates and conditions as Israel.