JEFFERSON CITY - In the past four years, the Missouri Department of Transportation has used more than 83,000 car tires - the amount from 20,750 cars - in its construction projects and enough recycled shingles to roof 305 houses.  Over that time, the agency has recycled more than 3.6 billion pounds of waste material that otherwise would have wound up in landfills.

 "We'll use just about everything but the kitchen sink in our highway construction if it means protecting the environment and providing a quality project on time and within budget," said MoDOT Director Pete Rahn.

 Fly ash, cement kiln dust, mine chat and boiler and steel slag - all manufacturing by-products - are other waste materials the agency allows to be used when building highways. 

In addition, MoDOT crews clean up more than 80,000 car tires - about 600 tons - that are left on state highways every year.  These tires are ground up and used in fuel for power plants, replacing coal used for electric power.

 The Missouri State Recycling Program recently recognized MoDOT's environmental contributions with its annual state Recycling Award.  Gov. Matt Blunt presented the award to MoDOT on Dec. 12.

 "It's great to receive this nice pat on the back for our recycling efforts," said Rahn.  "We're proud of the strides we've made in reducing waste."

  MoDOT has also increased its use of recycled asphalt pavement, asphalt that has already been used as a road or parking lot and taken up to make way for a new surface.  Last year, the department used more than three million tons of asphalt containing recycled material on 1,020 miles of highway, 50 times the amount used in 2003.