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Circular Economy

 Love reading about innovation like this - combining building rubble and tire waste for road construction material. 

This recycled blend is the first to feature a mix of rubber and rubble precisely optimized to meet road engineering safety standards, according to the team. It does offer greater flexibility than conventional materials, which the team says should make it less prone to cracking, all while offering a greener approach to construction.

If this the perfect solution and does it pose no environmental hazards is hard to tell. There is a certain monetary and environment cost to producing net new road construction material. The monetary cost will drive the quality of infrastructure and it's maintenance. In my state, the conditions of the roads can vary a fair bit based on who is responsible for their upkeep. The state, city or county. 

Counties range from wealthy to impoverished and the quality of infrastructure signals this loud and clear. With (assuming) a lower cost material made out of waste, there could be more parity in the quality of roads and therefore in the economy. If it did turn out that the environmental cost of the new solution is a bit higher than what we have currently, maybe its ability to equalize access to opportunity may act as a decent counter-weight.

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