We experienced a full circle moment during one of our latest paving projects. All American Tire Recyclers (All American), our crumb rubber supplier, contracted Austin Bridge and Road to repave their high-traffic lot with a mix that included our SigmaBond rubberized binder! This unprecedented opportunity solidified our partnership as we move toward greener, more sustainable infrastructure.
The 2,200 tons of mix used on this three-acre lot contained 100 tons of PG70-22XR and approximately 18% tire rubber, which equates to roughly 18 tons of rubber and more than 2,000 recycled tires. As a 24/7 plant that processes 18,000 tires a day, 6.5 million tires a year, and 26% of all tire waste in Texas, All American’s lot is busy — and constantly bearing the weight of heavy equipment.
All American needed a solution that would not only be of minimal disruption to their operations, but also stand the test of time, stress, and volume. Thanks, in part, to the workability of SigmaBond, the paving contractor completed the job in just one day! Additionally, the carbon black found in All American’s tire rubber improves to the long-term performance of the pavement — retaining its dark color and resisting cracking for a longer period of time.
This performance comes with the added benefit of sustainability. SigmaBond is capable of including up to 40% tire rubber and more than 15% RAP and RAS without impacting performance. From cradle to gate — crumb rubber to liquefied tire rubber to a new pavement — Polyco and All American have brought the paving cycle full circle right in our own backyard.
At Polyco, we’ve successfully diverted over 1.5 million end-of-life rubber tires from landfills, transforming them into valuable resources for our roofing and paving projects. This innovative approach is driving widespread sustainability efforts. The use of rubberized asphalt helps contribute to a circular economy by continuously upcycling reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP), reclaimed asphalt shingles (RAS), and recycled tire rubber (RTR).
While rubberized hot-mix asphalt solutions are always evolving, SigmaBond stands apart. Our flagship product reimagines the potential of tires by incorporating them into high-performance asphalt formulations. Our asphalt modifier shines for its ability to incorporate up to 40% scrap tire rubber, leveraging the resilient properties of carbon black. This innovative product demonstrates superior fatigue resistance and can significantly reduce construction costs compared to other rubber-modified asphalts.
If you would like to learn more about the benefits of SigmaBond, read our featured article in the Summer 2024 issue of Pavement Preservation Journal.
Sustainable practices have seen significant advancements across continents, with early adoption of technologies like Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA) highlighting a global commitment to reducing environmental impact. The road to sustainability is paved with innovation, and Polyco is proud to be at the forefront of this journey.
We believe that collaboration is the key to unlocking the full potential of sustainable solutions. By working hand-in-hand with global partners, we are accelerating the development and implementation of technologies that address pressing and costly environmental challenges. Our recent partnership with Grupo Brisa, Cepsa, and ISEL in Portugal is a prime example of this collaborative spirit.
Together, we’ve been exploring the transformative power of SigmaBond, our innovative rubberized asphalt modifier, creating more sustainable roads. SigmaBond offers many benefits, including improved road performance, extended pavement life, and reduced environmental impact. By incorporating recycled tires into the asphalt mix, we’re not only diverting waste from landfills but also enhancing a project’s overall sustainability.
The results of our recent project in Portugal have been remarkable, demonstrating SigmaBond’s effectiveness on a global scale. We’re excited to share the details in this issue of the Pavement Preservation Journal. This collaboration represents a significant step in our mission to create a greener future.
Stay tuned for more insights into our groundbreaking work and how we’re redefining the possibilities of sustainable infrastructure. Together, we can build a world where environmental responsibility and economic growth go hand-in-hand.
In many sectors, including the asphalt pavement industry, sustainable materials are coming into play and are at the top of everyone’s agenda. Recycled asphalt pavement and shingles (RAP/RAS), waste tire rubber (WTR), plastics, glass – many scrap products find viable end uses in pavements. But focusing on materials alone is not enough to achieve truly sustainable pavements. It’s also about design and process.
With SigmaBond — a truly liquefied rubber asphalt using patented Rapid Digestion Process™ — Polyco is eager to pave toward a new era for the industry, where mix producers, paving contractors and agencies can realize complete sustainability in their road and highway projects.
Eco-consciousness, long-term performance, efficient production and construction, and cost savings are the hallmarks of a sustainable pavement — and, by marrying new innovations with tried-and-true methods, there are ways to achieve them all in a single project.
Perpetual Pavements: Built to last
One potential solution to achieving pavement sustainability is Perpetual Pavements. The Asphalt Pavement Alliance (APA) defines Perpetual Pavement as “an asphalt pavement designed and built to last longer than 50 years without requiring major structural rehabilitation or reconstruction and needing only periodic surface renewal in response to distresses confined to the top of the pavement.”1
According to research, Perpetual Pavements have a variety of positive attributes. They eliminate reconstruction costs at the end of a pavement’s structural capacity, lower rehabilitation-induced user-delay costs, reduce excessive use of non-renewable resources, such as aggregates and asphalt binder; diminish energy costs while the pavement is in use, and reduce the life-cycle costs of the pavement network.2
However, as with any design approach, there are challenges. First, the upfront costs incurred by intense subgrade work and soil stabilization, longer periods of traffic interruption during the initial build, and the amount of material needed for what is typically a 25 to 30 percent thicker pavement than the standard.
In addition, Perpetual Pavements are limited in how much recycled materials they can utilize. For example, states only allow WTR in the wearing course, or top layer, of a Perpetual Pavement. Fortunately, innovations like SigmaBond asphalt binder are showing that contractors can achieve dense compaction with the use of more recycled materials, such as WTR, in the base and intermediate pavement layers.
At the NCAT Test Track, structural test research is underway on sections where recycled plastics, WTR, and synthetic fiber are utilized in different mixes. The test sections will be subjected to accelerated traffic loading over a two-year period, and the structural response and pavement performance of those sections will be monitored.3
Striking the Balance
Balanced mix design (BMD) is also trailblazing as a sustainable solution. A volumetric mix design that’s keen on performance, BMD gives contractors more leeway in the types of materials they use – as long as the final result is a balance of performance between rutting and cracking.
With BMD, contractors are finding they can save money and maintain quality by using more recycled materials. Workability and density are further improved when technologies such as SigmaBond are incorporated into a BMD.
While there are cost savings with regard to materials and long-term maintenance, there is the expense of the design work and laboratory testing. With BMD, you are essentially creating a custom mix from scratch. Mix designers have to assess local materials, binders, and additives and the combinations thereof to forecast expected resistance to distresses at the lowest cost.4
Methodologies for Determining Pavement Sustainability
Many agencies are turning to life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA) for evaluating the long-term economic viability of pavement designs. In addition to initial construction costs, “an LCCA also considers future costs such as maintenance, rehabilitation and sometimes user costs, all of which are converted into present dollars (called net present value or cost).”5
Often confused with LCCA, a Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) is different in that it specifically quantifies the environmental impacts over the pavement’s full life cycle, including impacts that occur throughout the supply chain.6 To encourage consistency and adoption of pavement LCAs, the Federal Highway Administration has developed an LCA framework specific to pavements which provides technical guidance on the approach.
Used together, LCAs and LCCAs can truly vet a pavement for the long haul and illuminate the best project overall approach to a roadway project.
We at Polyco look forward to being part of the long haul in the asphalt pavement industry, especially with forward-thinking products such as SigmaBond, the environmental benefits of which we will explore in our next post.
- https://www.driveasphalt.org/uploads/documents/Perpetual_Pavement_Synthesis.pdf ↩︎
- Timm, D.H., & D.E. Newcomb (2006). Perpetual Pavement Design for Flexible Pavements in the US. International Journal of Pavement Engineering, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 111–119. doi:10.1080/10298430600619182 ↩︎
- https://eng.auburn.edu/research/centers/ncat/research/newsletters/spring2022.pdf ↩︎
- https://www.eng.auburn.edu/research/centers/ncat/education/bmd.html ↩︎
- https://www.eng.auburn.edu/research/centers/ncat/newsroom/2021-spring/lcca.html#:~:text=An%20LCCA%20is%20a%20process,the%20best%20long%2Dterm%20value. ↩︎
- https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/sustainability/how.cfm ↩︎
The first installment of our Back to Black webinar series, Not Lost in Translation, brought together two distinguished experts from opposite sides of the Atlantic to discuss the latest advancements in rubberized asphalt performance.
Henrique Borges Miranda, Ph.D., a pavement engineer and assistant professor at Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa, shared insights from his groundbreaking work in Portugal, including research on incorporating crumb rubber tire waste into asphalt mixtures. Attendees were treated to an engaging presentation featuring a comparative analysis of dry and wet processing methods, as well as real-world case studies and a fascinating video demonstration of elastic recovery testing from Brisa laboratories in Portugal.
Joining Henrique was Robert Lee, P.E., Regional QC Director for Texas Materials. With nearly four decades of experience, Robert offered a U.S. perspective on sustainability in the asphalt industry. In a dynamic discussion with host Al Palmer, he highlighted innovative projects throughout Texas utilizing specialty mixes and shared how his team leverages Polyco’s SigmaBond to enhance asphalt performance. Missed the webinar? You can still explore these exciting discussions and gain valuable international perspectives. Watch the recording now and join us on the journey to redefine asphalt performance and sustainability.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Ennis, Texas, November 21, 2024 – In its latest paving project, Polyco, manufacturer of high-performance, sustainable asphalt solutions for the roofing and paving industries, has solidified its partnership with All American Tire Recyclers (All American), affirming the collaboration required to achieve greener, more sustainable infrastructure.
All American, Polyco’s crumb rubber supplier, contracted Austin Bridge and Road to repave their high-traffic lot with a mix that included Polyco’s SigmaBond rubberized binder. The 2,200 tons of mix used on this three-acre lot contained 100 tons of PG70-22XR and approximately 18% tire rubber, which equates to roughly 18 tons of rubber and more than 2,000 recycled tires.
“I want to be able to sleep at night and make sure that we are making a difference,” said Tom Parker, CEO/owner of All American. “And this [rubberized asphalt] is by far, in my opinion, one of the best avenues out there. Rubberized asphalt lasts longer.”
As a 24/7 plant that processes 18,000 tires a day, 6.5 million tires a year, and 26% of all tire waste in Texas, All American’s lot is busy with heavy equipment. All American needed a solution that would be of minimal disruption to their operations (Austin Bridge and Road completed the paving project in just one day) and stand the test of time, stress, and volume. A product of Polyco’s patented Rapid Digestion Process™ (RDP), which completely liquefies tire rubber, SigmaBond is proven to increase fatigue resistance and thermal stability.
In addition to utilizing high percentages of waste tire rubber, SigmaBond is one of the only binders that allows tire rubber modified hot mix to incorporate RAP and RAS. Then there’s the eco-consciousness of neighboring businesses working together — SigmaBond is made right here in Texas, within 50 miles of All American.
About Polyco
Polyco is a leader in reducing environmental impact by repurposing waste tire rubber into high-performing, sustainable infrastructure solutions. Their flagship innovation, SigmaBond, enables asphalt products to be upcycled again and again. Click here to learn more.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Reno, Nevada, October 14, 2024 – Polyco, manufacturer of high-performance, sustainable asphalt solutions for the roofing and paving industries, has named Dario Alvarez as its new Regional Sales Manager. Alvarez brings over 20 years of sales leadership experience in asphalt pavement solutions and highway safety technologies.
His strength lies in introducing customers to emerging, innovative product lines. Throughout his career, Alvarez has worked with several prominent companies in the industry, including Ingevity and Surface Tech, gaining critical experience with asphalt and pavement preservation technologies. These have included polymer modified asphalts, asphalt emulsion, fuel oils, surface sealers, refined products, and preformed thermoplastic pavement markings.
“What’s been fun for me is [that], in a lot of the jobs that I’ve taken on as a sales professional and as a sales leader, [the] product that I’m about to sell is brand new to the industry,” he said. “That’s something that’s really exciting to me. Polyco is offering the same type of adventure where this is a technology that we’ve had for a few years, but it’s still kind of burgeoning in the industry on the paving side.”
In his new position, Alvarez is tasked with developing relationships with specifiers and end users in the asphalt pavement market to promote SigmaBond, Polyco’s waste tire rubber asphalt modifier. “This role affords me a great opportunity to go out and introduce something that could really benefit the paving industry, that is proven to work really well and be sustainable. SigmaBond has got all of the characteristics and attributes that people are looking for.”
Alvarez has the personality, passion, self-motivation, and technical knowledge that compels companies to revolutionize how they do business. He showed this promise from the beginning when, in 2000, he launched his asphalt career selling liquid asphalt in Ogden, Utah, for Pioneer Oil Company.
“My boss [at the time] hired me because I had a really outgoing personality,” said Alvarez. “It was easy for me to talk to people and engage with people and get them to like me. So I got out there, started talking with contractors, getting involved in the industry.”
Polyco looks forward to advancing the asphalt industry with Alvarez on their team.
About Polyco
Polyco is a leader in reducing environmental impact by repurposing waste into high-performing, sustainable infrastructure solutions. Their flagship innovation, SigmaBond, enables asphalt products to be upcycled again and again. Click here to learn more.
As many in asphalt know, we’re a community as much as we are an industry. That’s why Polyco’s latest hire, Dario Alvarez, our Regional Sales Manager, is a perfect fit – he’s about people.
In 2000, Dario launched his asphalt career selling liquid asphalt in Ogden, Utah, for Pioneer Oil Company. “My boss [at the time] hired me because I had a really outgoing personality,” he said. “It was easy for me to talk to people and engage with people and get them to like me. So I got out there, started talking with contractors, getting involved in the industry. For the next seven years, I worked in Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming, selling liquid asphalt to hot plants.”
From there, his sales career accelerated and he branched out into the highway safety industry, where his passion for people really began to shine. It was Dario’s job to engineer safe work zones that utilized smart work zone system technology and then sell that work zone configuration to contractors to implement. “We’ve got guys out there putting down the roads, putting down the asphalt, building bridges. And, as they are trying to create this infrastructure, they have to be kept safe from the traveling public,” he said.
Over the course of his career, Dario found his way back to asphalt sales. He worked with several prominent companies in the industry, including Ingevity and Surface Tech, gaining critical experience with asphalt and pavement preservation technologies. These have included polymer modified asphalts, asphalt emulsion, fuel oils, surface sealers, refined products, and preformed thermoplastic pavement markings.
Ultimately, asphalt is where he wants to be.
“What’s been fun for me is [that], in a lot of the jobs that I’ve taken on as a sales professional and as a sales leader, [the] product that I’m about to sell is brand new to the industry,” he said. “That’s something that’s really exciting to me. Polyco is offering the same type of adventure where this is a technology that we’ve had for a few years, but it’s still kind of burgeoning in the industry on the paving side.”
Dario has been tasked with developing relationships with specifiers and end users in the asphalt pavement market to promote SigmaBond, Polyco’s waste tire rubber asphalt modifier. “This role affords me a great opportunity to go out and introduce something that could really benefit the paving industry, that is proven to work really well and be sustainable. SigmaBond has got all of the characteristics and attributes that people are looking for.”
Outside of his profession, Dario makes sure to allocate time for personal pursuits, namely fly fishing and coaching judo. Alongside his coaching partner, he runs the largest judo program for juniors in Austin, Texas. It represents yet another way in which Dario connects well with people, who ultimately are what matters most.
Our marketing team recently spent two exciting days digging deep into the science and testing behind asphalt mixtures at Asphalt Testing Solutions and Engineering (ATS) in Jacksonville, Florida. As a relative newcomer to the asphalt industry, I jumped at the opportunity to attend this immersive training course taught by the renowned Tanya Nash, P.E.
The course kicked off with a brief history of asphalt (Fun fact: Did you know that asphalt has been used to build roads since ancient Babylonian times more than 2000 years BC?!) and an overview of the present-day asphalt industry. We then did a deep dive into asphalt binders and mixtures — touching on testing methods, material specifications and mix design methodologies. We also went through a marketing exercise with ATS’ Molly Berry, which helped us think about our own strengths and weaknesses to identify areas of growth and market opportunities. We also got a crash course in asphalt terminologies, broadening my understanding of the industry.
While the classroom instruction was invaluable, my favorite part was visiting ATS’ labs and getting hands-on experience with the asphalt itself! We tested asphalt binders, prepared sample asphalt cores and even created our own mix design by measuring raw aggregates (aka rocks) used in the mixes. While I love working as a marketing administrator for Polyco, I may have found my true calling working in the “Rock Room!” It was eye-opening to learn so much about the science underpinning high-performance modified asphalts like Polyco’s SigmaBond.
Beyond the technical knowledge, I was incredibly impressed by the ATS team’s passion and expertise. From the guys who handle hot asphalt and sort aggregate to the technicians and engineers who operate testing equipment and measure binder performance — everyone we met truly brought the course material to life. These folks live and breathe asphalt testing and engineering. By patiently answering our many, many questions, I really got to experience their love of the industry and the work they do.
The ATS Asphalt Mixture Training was an amazingly immersive experience that let me dive feet-first into the world of asphalt science and testing. I came away with a much deeper understanding and appreciation for the work we do in manufacturing high-performance, sustainable asphalt products that enable the use of more recycled materials. I’m proud and honored to work in such an essential industry. I look forward to attending more trainings to expand my knowledge as we push the asphalt industry from black to green!
Polyco is delighted to announce that Bob Rivers is coming on board as the new Director of Technical Sales for the West of the Rockies region. With over 40 years working in asphalt paving and roofing, Bob brings a wealth of industry experience to his new role. We sat down with Bob to learn more about his background, his journey to joining Polyco, and what he’s looking forward to.
Can you share a little about your background in the pavement industry?
I started way back in 1981 down in Southern California at an independent refining company that produced the complete gamut of petroleum products from fuels to asphalt. I didn’t like the tedious rotating shifts very much, so I went into the laboratory as a quality control tech for a year, testing aviation and automotive fuels, paving and roofing asphalts. I transferred to R&D for a more flexible schedule and went back to school. This role exposed me to all the nuances of the Dark Side of petroleum science — emulsions, rejuvenation agents, oxidized roofing asphalts, felt saturants, bunker fuels, printing inks and more.
Basically, the R&D team enabled the company to make consistent, finished product formulations from a changing refinery crude charge. Much like today’s Polyco lab folks continue to do now. Some things never seem to change. Same challenges, different day!
How did you first get connected with Polyco?
I met Tom Nichols in Stockton, CA in the 1980s when I was marketing the base asphalt for modified roofing products there. Even then, Tom had big ideas and aspirations for entrepreneurial success. We kept in touch through the years, and in 2014, I joined AST as a consultant, helping to market and sell PG asphalt and SigmaBond in California, Arizona and Nevada.
I’ve been in and around the asphalt game for over 40 years now and over 20 in PG-TR development sales. The SigmaBond technology really intrigued me from the start. Many other TR startups promised everything but could not deliver the goods. It is exciting to see the innovation and new technologies we are developing. Unlike other rubber modification processes that degrade the properties and performance when adding more ground rubber, SigmaBond keeps improving the properties at higher rubber dosages. It’s a game-changer, truly unique, and that got me hooked. As pavement experts and academia have said, SigmaBond PG-TR is the future of TR asphalt binder specifications.
As the new sales and marketing lead out West, what’s got you most excited?
Our biggest challenge now is going to be making enough SigmaBond to satisfy the demand we’re seeing! More and more states and agencies are looking to mandate high recycled rubber contents in their asphalt mixes for sustainability. With SigmaBond, we can finally give them those high rubber loads without compromising the pavement performance. That’s been the big issue holding the other technologies back.
Polyco is pioneering the future for higher recycled rubber contents and more sustainable asphalt mixes with SigmaBond. We’ve got a really remarkable opportunity to promote greater sustainability through more recycled rubber while also delivering better-performing asphalt pavements. Polyco has some awesome products, and I’m thrilled to be partnering with Polyco’s technical team to communicate the SigmaBond PG-TR benefits across the West.
Tell us a little about your life outside of work.
While the asphalt industry has been my career passion for over 40 years now, my greatest joys come from life outside of work with my family. I’ve been blessed with a sweetheart of a wife, Lili, for 41 years and three months so far. We’ve got three of the best children and their spouses that you could ever wish for, and they’ve given us four beautiful grandkids. We’re lucky enough to live near the whole family, and watching those little ones grow up is a priceless gift. Though, I will say… It’s great to see their headlights coming up the driveway, but it’s also a relief to see the tail lights when they’re leaving. They certainly have a lot of energy!! Without a doubt, we’ve been blessed!
Lili and I have a couple of mischievous, small but mighty dachshund-chihuahua mixes that keep us on our toes.
After 10 years of my AST consulting internship and now, I am finally a Polyco employee. I look forward to continuing to collaborate with all my new official co-workers. Again, and most seriously, I am blessed!
As the Director of Technical Sales at Polyco, I’m excited to share highlights from a recent collaboration with Skip Brown, a seasoned figure in pavement consulting and Dr. Peter Sebaaly, Director of the Western Regional Superpave Center at the University of Nevada, Reno. With a career spanning over four decades in the pavement industry, I’ve been lucky enough to witness uncounted innovations. The article Skip, Dr. Sebaaly and I wrote delves into one of the most groundbreaking — Polyco’s SigmaBond. In the article, we explore the evolution of rubberized binders and how SigmaBond is revolutionizing the landscape. Read on for some of the highlights of the article, which was recently published in a newsletter by the California Pavement Preservation Center (CP2C) of Cal State Chico.
Over the past 50 years, California’s pavement industry has witnessed the extraordinary evolution of rubberized asphalt binders. Traditionally, asphalt rubber (AR) methods involved blending ground tire rubber into the base binder at the hot plant. However, advancements have introduced the terminal blend approach, resulting in a rubber-modified binder (RMB). This innovative method allows for greater flexibility and convenience in handling rubberized asphalt.
RMBs like Polyco’s SigmaBond offer key advantages over traditional AR binders, especially for smaller paving jobs. One notable benefit is storability – RMB can be produced at a terminal, stored in tanks and shipped to multiple hot plants. This eliminates the need for special blending equipment at individual plants, making it a cost-effective and efficient solution. RMB formulations are versatile, applicable to both gap-graded and dense-graded hot mix asphalt, and can be customized to meet various performance grades.
As a sustainable solution, SigmaBond allows high RAP usage while delivering superior cracking resistance. Research from the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) has validated SigmaBond’s performance in dense-graded rubber-modified hot mix asphalt (RHMA), showing excellent resistance to reflective cracking: 5-6 times better than unmodified mixes.
Cracking resistance isn’t all SigmaBond offers. The mixes evaluated in the UNR study, containing 25% recycled asphalt pavement (RAP), also demonstrated equivalent or improved moisture resistance, fatigue life and rutting resistance compared to conventional mixtures. These findings support the recommendation of SigmaBond RMB for dense-graded rubberized overlays on projects of all sizes.
Recent projects in California have put SigmaBond to the test, and the results have only reinforced these benefits. Contractors paving 2-inch dense-graded rubberized overlays in Rancho Murieta, Los Lagos and Stockton achieved excellent in-place density, workability and uniform surface textures that outperformed conventional mixes. The photos below show the highly uniform and tight texture of the finished surfaces.
As a pioneer in sustainable asphalt modifiers, Polyco’s SigmaBond RMB is driving the future of rubberized binders and circular paving practices. SigmaBond’s ability to be easily batched and stored allows its advantages to extend to projects of any size, from major highways to private parking lots. By enabling high recycled material usage while delivering outstanding cracking and aging resistance, Polyco empowers contractors and agencies to construct longer-lasting, lower-maintenance pavements.
SigmaBond is just the beginning of Polyco’s innovative asphalt paving solutions. I encourage you to explore our website, meet with us at conferences and other events and reach out to learn more about all the exciting ways we can shift the asphalt industry from black to green together.