1400 K Street, NW Washington, DC 20005 tel (202) 682-4800 fax (202) 682-4854 www.rma.

org

Rubber-Modified Asphalt
The use of scrap tire generated rubber in asphalt materials dates back to the mid-1960s, when a
materials engineer in Arizona was seeking a way to improve the properties and performance of
asphalt pavements. The term rubber-modified asphalt is a generic term used to describe all the
various ways scrap tire rubber can be incorporated into asphalt pavements. The Federal
Highway Administration uses the term crumb rubber modifier as a general term to identify the
concept of incorporating scrap tire rubber into asphalt paving materials, while another segment
of the industry refers to this combination as asphalt-rubber.
In general, rubber-modified asphalt can be divided into two categories, wet process and dry
process. The wet process is any method that blends ground rubber with asphalt cement prior to
incorporating the binder. The dry process involves methods that mix ground rubber with
aggregate before the mixture is charged with asphalt binder. There currently is a generic dry
technology available on the market. However, the wet process is the one predominantly used
today.
In December 1991, the U.S. Congress enacted the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency
Act, which mandated the use of recycled ground scrap tire rubber in prescribed percentages of
highways receiving federal aid. However, in 1993, language relating to rubber-modified
asphalt in the Act was repealed, and no mandate on the use of rubber-modified asphalt exists
anywhere in the United States.
Today, rubber-modified asphalt is used primarily in California and Arizona, where 180 million
pounds of scrap tire rubber is consumed in those two markets (180 million pounds of scrap tire
rubber translates to just over 980,000 scrap tires). In Arizona, rubber-modified asphalt has been
successfully used on roads in areas ranging from desert heat to snow-covered mountains. Florida
uses 16 million pounds of scrap tire rubber for their rubber-modified asphalt market, while South
Carolina, Texas and New Mexico are using lesser amounts.
There are numerous advantages for using rubber-modified asphalt. First, rubber-modified
asphalt is economical and employing it in roads and highways cuts construction costs. Also,
pavement containing rubber-modified asphalt is quieter than that containing traditional material.
Most important, however, is the fact that rubber-modified asphalt creates a market that consumes
more than 18 million scrap tires per year, which equates to over three billion tons of scrap tire
rubber. More widespread adoption of this technology has the potential to utilize virtually all
scrap tires generated annually in the United States.
Certain information in this document is courtesy of the Rubber Pavements Association (RPA). RPA documents and
information can be found at http://www.rubberpavements.org
The Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA) is the principal trade group representing tire makers based in the
United States. The RMA is the leading source of information on scrap tire issues and supports the proper
management of scrap tires. Additional information on scrap tire programs can be obtained by visiting the RMAs
web site at http://www.rma.org/scraptire.html

June 2002