NEW YORK — October 23, 2026. New York City’s Department of Transportation has begun testing two alternative asphalt mixtures along Fordham Road in the Bronx. One mix contains as much as 96% recycled material; another uses plastic waste in the binder. The city says the trials are intended to assess road durability and environmental performance.
Two materials, one working street
According to NYC DOT’s October 23 announcement, the first mixture incorporates steel slag, a byproduct of steelmaking. The agency says this option consists of 96% recycled material, including 66% recycled steel slag aggregate. The second mixture uses recycled plastic in place of some conventional polymer ingredients.
The test area is on eastern Fordham Road between Webster Avenue and Southern Boulevard. It sits within a larger corridor project meant to improve bus service and safety for approximately 130,000 daily riders, according to the department.
Environmental promises must be tested
NYC DOT estimates that the plastic-containing asphalt used for this project will avoid roughly 56.6 metric tons of carbon-dioxide-equivalent emissions and reuse plastic equivalent to more than 1.9 million bottles. Those numbers are the agency’s projections, not independently verified outcomes from long-term pavement monitoring.
The agency also reports that its two asphalt plants already average about 40% recycled content in their usual asphalt production. The new mixes go beyond that baseline. City engineers will need to monitor wear, performance during winter weather, and maintenance costs to determine whether the experiments warrant wider adoption.
Why city residents should watch
Improved paving materials could eventually affect pothole repairs, street resurfacing budgets and the longevity of busy transit corridors. For now, this is a road test—not a citywide conversion to recycled asphalt or proof that either experimental mix will outperform conventional pavement.
Primary source: New York City Department of Transportation, October 23, 2026.
Featured photograph: Ray Donnelly / Unsplash; illustrative roadworks image, not the Fordham Road test site.
