1. Asphalt recycling

1.1 Key figures

In France, between 40 and 45 million tonnes of asphalt are produced every year. Every year, around 6 million tonnes are removed from pavements, either by milling or by lifting. In 2001, almost 40% was reused untreated, as road shoulders, underlays, rural roads, building site tracks, etc. Only 10% was recycled – and used – in the manufacture of new asphalt mixes.

Since then, recovered recycling has risen sharply, thanks to the increase in the price of petroleum products (including bitumen) and investments in asphalt plants.

The estimate for 2007 is that 30% of old asphalt recovered is recycled into new asphalt.

By way of comparison, the proportion of asphalt mix recycled into asphalt is close to...