Some drivers in California, including those in Rancho Cucamonga, will get a new appreciation for the expression “where the rubber meets the road”, thanks to a $5.3m grant from the state.
Recently, the state of California decided to split grant money among 40 communities to fund rubber-mix road surfacing created primarily from used tires.
It appears to be a win-win for the cities and the state; Rancho Cucamonga and the other municipalities get road surfacing without paying for it, and the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) will find a use for mountains of old tires.
CalRecycle receives $1 from the purchase of every tire, with the money being used to divert around 38 million tires for repurposing. With the help of a brochure printing service, the public could be made better informed about the organization and learn, for instance, that the crumb rubber used in making the road material can also be used to form portable speed bumps and railroad ties.
Using old tires as rubberized pavement was pioneered in Arizona, and California, Florida, South Carolina, and Texas followed suit. Colorado, Michigan, and Washington are each considering their use as well.
Considering the approximately 44 million tires Californians go through every year, it is a bonus that rubberized roads last 50% longer than roads made from other materials.
