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In 2025, more than 7,000 scrap tires were recycled into rubber-modified asphalt used on approximately 0.8 miles of Ellsworth Road in Pittsfield Township. In June 2026, EGLE announced that the Ellsworth Road project had received the National Asphalt Pavement Association’s 2025 Quality in Construction Award – Green Category, recognising its use of recycled tire materials in pavement while pursuing sustainable infrastructure and pavement performance. In 2026, EGLE announced that the project had received the 2025 Quality in Construction Award – Green Category from the National Asphalt Pavement Association.
Finding large-scale applications for recycled tire rubber can therefore create another market for a material that might otherwise become waste.
The project was designed to test how pavement containing recycled tire rubber performs compared with conventional asphalt, according to the Washtenaw County Road Commission (WCRC). Using RHMA can help conserve natural resources, reduce emissions and landfill waste, while also potentially improving pavement longevity, according to EGLE. EGLE said its Scrap Tire Program provides grants aimed at developing markets for scrap tires and expanding the use of rubberised asphalt in paving.
What happens when thousands of worn-out tires reach the end of the road? In Michigan, some of them found their way back onto one. The unusual road experiment brought together WCRC, Michigan Technological University and the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) to explore a practical use for scrap tires while studying pavement performance.The experiment later received national recognition. Scrap tires can be difficult to manage when they reach the end of their useful life. The agency described the Ellsworth Road project as the first road in the greater Ann Arbor area to incorporate this type of rubberised material. The project is also part of a wider effort in Michigan to find useful applications for scrap tires. The Ellsworth Road project gained another milestone after construction. The award recognised the innovative use of rubber-modified asphalt containing recycled tire materials and its combination of pavement performance goals with sustainable infrastructure.