Bio-bitumen & bio-asphalt (lignin binders)
Bio-bitumen and bio-asphalt replace or extend petroleum bitumen with plant-oil and lignocellulosic-biomass binders and rejuvenators. SoyLei's SIP-1111 Rejuv (sub-epoxidized soybean oil, SESO) completed AASHTO's Asphalt Mixture Recycling Agent DataMine pathway (report AMRA-2025-02-003, May 2026), enabling 45%+ reclaimed-asphalt-pavement (RAP) mixes; Sripath Technologies' ReLIXER/PGXpand/ButaPhalt suite is deployed on high-RAP projects in the US, Australia, Ireland and elsewhere, including a 100%-RAP New York City project. Colas's Vegecol and Vegeroad Bitumen (majority-plant-oil binders) cut asphalt carbon footprint up to 70% and CO2 emissions up to 30% versus conventional bitumen, rolled out across France, Denmark and other European markets. In India, CSIR-CRRI and CSIR-IIP transferred an indigenous bio-bitumen technology (pyrolysis of rice-straw and other farm residue into bio-oil, blended 20-30% with conventional bitumen) for national-highway adoption, targeting India's roughly 50% bitumen import dependence.
polymers-materials
14 min