Along with pitch, lime, and gravel, this 2-mile stretch of I-25 in New Mexico is reinforced with another ingredient: plastic. Purple flecks from a toothbrush here, a bit of green tubing there. Gary Fishback and Erik Bowers of Albuquerque's TEWA Technology are paving the nation's roads with plasphalt - a proprietary mix of asphalt and recycled plastic. Though plasphalt costs 10 percent more than the straight alternative, it lasts 25 percent longer. Plus, it diverts 27 percent of all waste from landfill to highway. Right now, TEWA's best local suppliers are Philips Semiconductors, Intel, Coca-Cola, and Sandia National Laboratories.
ELECTRIC WORD
