AASHTO takes Recycling steps.

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has established a Recycling Task Force within its Subcommittee on Materials (SOM).

The Recycling Task Force's mission is defined as investigating which recycled products can work in the highway environment and supporting the development and implementation of standards facilitating the use of recycled materials.

Transportation officials from five states and two from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) make up the committee. "Our primary initiative is to find out what things are sound from both an engineering and environmental standpoint," says Gerald Malasheskie, chairman of the task force and chief of the Materials and Testing Division, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

Additionally, the committee will determine which states have experience with certain recycled materials, identify any needed research and assess whether the TEA21-funded Recycled Materials Research Center (RMRC) at the University of New Hampshire is able to do the research or assist with standards development.

Malasheskie believes there is support from AASHTO's Subcommittee on Materials (which provides input to state DOT officials) for reauthorization of the RMRC. In order to establish the recycling task force, a resolution was put before the whole subcommittee. "We had near unanimous support," he says.