WisDOT MAPSS - Preservation - Material Recycling - Protecting, maintaining and operating Wisconsin's transportation system efficiently by making sound investments that preserve and extend the life of our infrastructure, while protecting our natural environment.
Material Recycling - Protecting, maintaining and operating Wisconsin's transportation system efficiently by making sound investments that preserve and extend the life of our infrastructure, while protecting our natural environment.The department strives to use recycled materials whenever possible in improvement projects. Our goal is to have 10% of newly produced materials replaced by recycled materials on construction projects each year and to continually strive to conserve resources, minimize waste and keep materials out of landfills.
WisDOT strives to make thoughtful, responsible investments in highways and bridges as part of the vision for providing a safe and efficient transportation system. This includes incorporating the use of recycled materials in improvement projects. Doing so preserves program resources and can in many cases create a positive environmental benefit. WisDOT’s recycled materials efforts help to prevent waste and create opportunities for savings. In the ten years WisDOT has tracked performance with this measure, more than 17 million tons of materials were reused on projects, creating a savings of over $250 million to benefit additional projects.
The department wants to encourage the use of recycled materials and has written project specifications to allow recycled materials in a sustainable way. Ultimately, the contractor makes the decision on the materials to use based on market conditions. The location, ease of processing, economy, fuel costs and landfill tipping fees affect the cost effectiveness and attractiveness of recycling.
WisDOT continues to support research on the use of recycled materials through partnerships with other state agencies and the Wisconsin Highway Research Program (WHRP). These efforts have examined recycled tire rubber, increased use of recycled pavement, alternatives to cement, and other aggregate materials. As these recycled materials demonstrate their effectiveness and suitability for construction, they are increasingly incorporated into projects, contributing to growth in this performance measure over time.