Springfield uses 'glassphalt' to pave road

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- An increase in glass recycling could mean success not only for Springfield's environmental conservation efforts, but also for its roadways.

Crews recently paved the road at the Springfield City Landfill using "glassphalt" -- asphalt mixed with glass crushed to the consistency of sand.

Glassphalt has had a bumpy road over the years, mostly because using it is a bit more costly than traditional asphalt. But with that price gap narrowing and the city intent on finding a use for glass collected at its recycling centers, glassphalt will be used on other city street projects in the future, Springfield street superintendent Steve Meyer and city recycling coordinator Barbara Lucks said.

A road at the James River Power Plant was paved with glassphalt five years ago and the Galloway Greenways Trail is also paved with it, but the landfill road is the material's real test, Meyer said.

"It really is going be a proving ground," he explained, noting heavy truck traffic will be normal for the road. "With this, it can be said glassphalt can be used anywhere.

"It's hard to get excited about overlays, but this year we've been excited about this project."

If the endeavor is a success, the appearance of streets could change with bits of glass glinting in sunlight or when hit by headlights. And the status of glass as a recyclable material could change as well.

Economics have helped make the decision to use glassphalt easier, Meyer said. Asphalt using quarry rock costs just over $31 a ton. Glassphalt, using glass generated by Springfield residents and businesses, costs about $32 a ton.

Blevins Asphalt of Mount Vernon, Mo., finished laying some 1,800 tons of glassphalt for the 1,000-foot-long, 30-foot-wide landfill road last week. The company has a hammer mill to crush glass at its Chesapeake quarry and has been involved in several glassphalt paving projects, Blevins official Randy Conway said.

Glass has presented a problem for the city's recycling program, Lucks said. It now has to be separated by color before being trucked to St. Louis or Sapulpa, Okla., where it is melted to make new glass.

May not be enough

With glassphalt, glass doesn't have to be separated by color. The irony, though, is that there may not be enough to supply all of the city's paving projects.

While it's estimated the city could use 1,400 tons of crushed glass each year, the recycling centers get only around 300 tons each year, Lucks said.

But officials hope that will help encourage businesses that throw glass containers in their regular trash to consider using the city's recycling program. It could also prompt area towns that don't include glass in their recycling efforts to start, she said.