From March 17 to 22, 2025, its Circular Economy Week. Pioneers, businesses, and governments showcase how we can use fewer resources and produce less waste.
The Public Works and Water Management, together with other governments and market parties, is on the Asphalt Recycling Train (ART), moving towards much less polluting and sustainable road maintenance. Where are we now, and where do we want to go?
But first: What does the ART do?
The ART renews the old surface layer of the asphalt. It detaches the layer from the road, heats the old asphalt, collects the melted asphalt, churns it up, and mixes it. Then it reapplies the layer with the renewed asphalt. It is then rolled so that the road surface is nice and smooth.
What benefits does the ART offer?
- Old asphalt is renewed on-site. As a result, there is no need for trucks to transport old and new materials back and forth, which reduces CO2 emissions.
- This method of road maintenance is almost entirely circular, as all materials are reused.
Where are we now?
Fredy Sierra-Fernandez is overseeing the development of the ART. Sierra-Fernandez: ‘With the ART, we can make road surfaces much more sustainable. We are currently testing one machine to see what it yields.’
‘We want to know, for example, how long the surface layer renewed by the ART will last in practice. We do this with test sections, parts of roads where we deploy the ART. Since June 2024, traffic has been driving over a test section on a provincial road in Gelderland and since October in the municipality of Heerlen.’
In October, the ART even renewed the surface layer of the ZOAB on the A2. In Gelderland and Heerlen, the surface layer is still in excellent condition. The surface layer of the ZOAB on the A2 is nearly perfect. If it werent a test section, we wouldnt pay any attention to it. But we are testing the ART, learning from what we find, and testing again. And we will continue to do so until we are 100% satisfied.’
Where do we want to go?
‘If we really want to make a difference, we need more machines,’ says Sierra-Fernandez. ‘But we also need more certainty about what they yield. An ART is not cheap. In April and May 2025, the ART will renew the fixed surface layer of asphalt on test sections in the municipalities of Almere and Oss. Hopefully before summer, the ZOAB on the national roads in our regions of West Netherlands South and West Netherlands North.’
Sierra-Fernandez is optimistic. He sees co-governments providing test sections to test and market parties collaborating to deploy the machine. ‘If the results remain as positive as they are now, it will become attractive for the manufacturer to produce more machines. ‘And if we have 3 or 4 machines running by 2030, we can do much more, and I will be very happy.’
Interested?
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Want to know more about sustainability and the circular economy?
On our Environment page, you can find out what else we are doing in terms of sustainability.
Want to know more about the circular economy? Check out Week of the Circular Economy ! Or read more about the ART in Asphalt recycling train consumes old asphalt.