HOT MIX ASPHALT RECYCLING AT HIGH PERCENTAGES: PRACTICE OF OPTIMIZATION AND USE OF REJUVENATORS IN SERBIA AND CZECH REPUBLIC
Abstract
Asphalt recycling, whether hot, warm, or cold, has proven to be the most sustainable, efficient, and readily applicable technology for a wide range of paving applications. In response to this, numerous technical specifications and standards have been developed in recent years to facilitate the incorporation of reclaimed asphalt (RA) into new asphalt mixtures, in some cases even removing limits on the allowable recycling content. In Europe, Italy and Serbia are pioneers in this field, as their regulations define minimum RA contents for new asphalt production and mandate the use of rejuvenators. This paper investigates commonly applied protocols for rejuvenator optimization and presents two successful case studies from the Czech Republic and Serbia, where asphalt mixtures containing 50% and 40% RA, respectively, were produced using a vegetal-based rejuvenator. The results indicate that, in addition to bitumen-scale testing, whether conventional or advanced, a minimum set of mixture-scale performance tests is essential to ensure the satisfactory in-situ performance of asphalt mixtures with high RA contents.
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