Frankfurt Airport tests world’s first organic cashew-based bitumen for sustainable road construction.
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Fraport AG is exploring new, innovative approaches for the use of construction materials.
Together with the startup “B2Square – Bitumen Beyond Oil,†the airport operator is using sustainable asphalt concrete to build and test a 200-meter-long section of road located on the airport apron.
This is the first time that organic cashew-based bitumen has been used at an airport anywhere in the world.
Bitumen is indispensable for road construction. It is normally obtained as a byproduct when distilling crude oil and then mixed with mineral aggregate to make asphalt concrete (also known as blacktop) for building roads.
In this case, however, B2Square is blending naturally occurring hydrocarbon resin with an organic extract obtained by pressing cashew shells. The resulting material is then mixed with aggregate to make sustainable asphalt.
This biogenic raw material is much more durable and climate-friendly than conventional asphalt concrete. Like all plants, cashew trees extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
The CO2 stored in cashew shells is neutralized in a special process and then permanently bound in road pavement. The low-temperature method used to lay it additionally improves the climate balance by consuming less energy.
By using bioasphalt, Fraport is also already complying now with new laws that will limit exposure to steam and aerosols at workplaces starting in 2025.
At the Kelsterbach asphalt plant not far from the airport, the material is mixed with crushed rock and loaded onto trucks that take it to construction sites.
The test stretch is located in the southern part of the airport’s apron. Fraport AG is paving one side of it with sustainable bioasphalt and the other with conventional asphalt.
Vehicles will drive to the end on one side, then turn around and drive back on the other side. This balanced use is an important prerequisite for obtaining useful results. ■