Most glass bottles placed in U.S. recycling bins ultimately end up in landfills, largely because separating colors is costly and glass is heavy. As the journal Case Studies in Construction Materials reported, an international team of engineers, including researchers at Michigan Technological University, found a novel use for the glass: in roadways. Asphalt concrete mixtures containing 6 percent surface-treated waste glass had dynamic stability 42.3 percent higher and an anti-skid value 38.6 percent higher than traditional asphalt mixtures, after testing in a controlled lab environment. Since a handful of U.S. cities have already experimented with glass-infused asphalt in past decades, this research could give road builders a more reliable, better-performing method for putting old glass bottles to use in future paving projects.
US glass recycling rates lag behind other materials
