Liberty Introduces SmartMIX™ Dry Additive for Rubberized Asphalt
First-of-its-kind, next-generation dry rubber additive offers cost-effective, sustainable mix alternative to liquid agents
Pittsburgh, PA – Liberty Tire Recycling, North America’s premiere provider of tire recycling services, today introduced SmartMIX™, an innovative dry-mix rubber additive for high-performance paved surfaces. Produced with next-generation technology and available only from Liberty, SmartMIX™ is an easy-to-use material that enhances any asphalt mix for improved compaction, flexibility and durability.
“Recycled rubber in asphalt has been utilized for decades to increase pavement safety and performance, but the challenges of liquid storage and handling have made the process expensive and complex, until now,” said Doug Carlson, Liberty Vice President for Asphalt Products. “Liberty SmartMIX is a new additive that simplifies rubber enhancement for any asphalt project and makes it more cost-effective than ever.”
“SmartMix is Liberty’s most recent solution to capitalize on the inherent value of a scrap tire,” said Liberty CEO Thomas Womble. “This is consistent with our ongoing commitment to focus on sustainability and green initiatives. Recycling just four tires reduces CO2 by 323 pounds. Just one lane-mile of rubberized asphalt can utilize 1,600 tires. That’s a significant step in reducing greenhouse gas emissions with a product that also offers added value in performance and roadway longevity.”
Field-tested and proven in hot and cold climates, SmartMIX™ is made from recycled tires – offering the benefits of sustainability, cost-effectiveness, increased safety and performance – without the expense and complexity associated with liquid modifiers. For rubberized asphalt projects, it significantly reduces the per-ton cost and provides up to a 50 percent reduction in modifier costs.
Using proprietary Reacted Rubber Particle Technology (R2PT), Liberty’s SmartMIX™ works with any mix design – including dense grade – and is compatible with the most commonly-used asphalt binders, additives and liquid agents. After pre-swelling at Liberty’s specialized, first-of-its kind processing facility, SmartMIX™ is ready-to-use, shipping to job sites in bulk bags, where it handles as a dry material at the mix plant. It enters the mix without a field blender and is compatible with warm-mix processes and other traditional paving equipment and field-mix operations.
“SmartMIX matches the performance of other modified mixes, but at a lower cost and with less waste, since you use only what you need,” said Carlson. “For even higher performance pavements, SmartMIX can be used at up to 20 percent by weight of the binder in gap-graded or open-graded mixes.”
In addition, SmartMIX™ also allows for increased use of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP). SmartMIX™ makes RAP less brittle, easier to handle and compact, and more crack-resistant, which allows any mix to use up to 45 percent RAP content, representing substantial project cost-savings.
“SmartMIX is easy to use and transport, is durable and flexible, and can be used for any paving job, large or small,” said Carlson. “For any job, from a residential driveway or commercial parking lot, to a major highway or infrastructure project, SmartMIX offers a long-lasting and low-maintenance alternative to traditional asphalt additives.”
“SmartMIX is in line with our commitment to make recycled rubber more cost-effective and easy to use for all industries,” said Womble. “We are committed to ongoing innovation for any industry that is looking for sustainable, high-performance material for a new generation of products and solutions.”
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About Liberty
Liberty Tire Recycling is the premier provider of tire recycling services in North America. By recycling more than 150 million tires annually, Liberty reclaims about 2.2 billion pounds of rubber for innovative, useful products. The recycled rubber produced by Liberty is used as crumb rubber and industrial feedstock for molded products; as tire-derived fuel for industrial kilns, mills and power plants; and as rubber mulch for landscaping and playgrounds. The company maintains a network of processing plants and comprehensive door-to-door collection services.