Crushing equipment is most often used in the processing of virgin materials – of limestone, basalt, granite, or other stone that’s mined. Consequently, when you think of rock crushing, that’s probably the type of crushing that comes to mind. But crushing equipment is just as useful in the recycling of materials as it is in their original crushing. In fact, crushing equipment is what enables the effective recycling of materials like concrete and asphalt.
Traditional Concrete and Asphalt Disposal
Traditionally, materials like asphalt and concrete were relegated to landfills upon removal. After being removed from parking lots or construction sites, they’d simply be transported to the nearest landfill for disposal. The approach, while simple, still resulted in freight costs, and, obviously, in landfill sites that were filled more quickly.
Recycling changed that by enabling materials to be reused. However, in the early days of recycling, reuse was almost solely as fill product, due to issues of quality and gradation irregularity.
Today, however, recycled concrete and asphalt can be crushed into forms that are usable in a breadth of industry applications.