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What’s next in circular materials: Good Roads panel discussion
April 2, 2025 By Rock to Road Staff
Robert Cumming (left), Ahmed Soliman, Mike McSweeney (middle), Raly Chakarova, Tyler Renaud (right), on the Good Roads 2025 conference stage. Canadian road building leaders discuss the future of recycled aggregate and circular materials in infrastructure based on a research project made public for the first time.
The research project demonstrated recycled concrete aggregate has significant potential, providing benefits such as cost savings and reductions in carbon emissions, explains Ahmed Soliman, panelist, researcher and associate professor, Building, Civil, and Environmental Engineering at Concordia University.
Soliman, who led the project, presented his findings at the Good Roads Conference 2025 in Toronto, Ont. He was joined by fellow panelists, Tyler Renaud, QA project manager for the City of Hamilton; Raly Chakarova, executive director with Toronto and Area Road Builders Association (TARBA); Mike McSweeney, executive director of the Ontario Stone Sand and Gravel Association (OSSGA); and moderator Robert Cumming, VP of sustainability at Lafarge.
According to Soliman, the report assessed recycled aggregate sources to determine their ability to meet standards, including technical methods to assure quality, and concluded recycled aggregate is effective. The panel discussion highlighted why recycled aggregate is essential to meeting sustainable infrastructure needs.
“The research concluded that cycle directors can be used successfully in conjunction with some quality enhancement,” said Soliman.
However, regardless of the data, there is still a lack of adoption of recycled aggregate across municipalities in Ontario.
“Most municipalities across Ontario have declared climate emergencies,” says McSweeney. “I always tell people that asphalt and concrete can be 100 per cent recyclable. They can reduce the environmental impact by reusing the materials.”
To McSweeney, it is paramount that municipalities build “better roads with better aggregate.” He urges politicians and municipal leaders to educate themselves on the positives of recycled aggregate.
Chakarova echoes McSweeney’s sentiment, “We are seeing in other international jurisdictions that governments are driving that recycling aggregate conversation forward. International governments are mandating the use of recycled materials. But, in Ontario, industry is saying, ‘Please, let us use this for the love of the environment, for your capital budget, let us use recycled aggregate so that it doesn’t end up in bank bills,’ and the municipalities aren’t interested.”
Renaud believes that there is a negative perception of recycled aggregate: “people see it as waste.” However, he argues there is still plenty of value and preused aggregate materials. “A shift in the mindset is key,” he says. The scientific data proves that recycled aggregate works, explains Renaud, now the real challenge is enforcing what should be the new standard in Ontario. “Recycled materials are viable and completely effective, and as long as you do your assurance testing, you have nothing to fear. The performance should be comparable to other viable material.”
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