LCCA
← Tools
Polymer (RPF) Life Cycle Cost Analysis Unsaved analysis

Conventional asphalt vs. recycled-plastic (RPF) polymer-modified asphalt. Methodology: NCAT Report 19-03; polymer life extension & schedules: MnDOT Report 2023-19; carbon factors: FHWA ICE v2.2.8.

1 Size the job (mix tons or lane-miles) 2 Check unit prices 3 Set when treatments happen 4 Read the savings Highlighted cells are yours to edit. Everything recalculates instantly.
Conventional
–
35-yr cost, today's $
Polymer (RPF)
–
35-yr cost, today's $
Savings
–
–
Return on premium
–
–
CO2e Avoided
–
–
Plastic Diverted
–
–

How the comparison works

Methodology: discounting, remaining service life, and exclusions
Each treatment, including the initial paving at year 0, is a cash outlay in the year it occurs, discounted at a real rate (inflation is excluded on both sides). A remaining-service-life (RSL) credit refunds the unused portion of the last major treatment at the end of the analysis period, so neither scenario is penalized for where its cycle happens to end (NCAT 19-03, Eq. 2). Excluded by design: user costs (delays and detours), agency overhead, inflation, and structural-layer RSL. NCAT's 10% significance rule is applied in the Results section.

The polymer pavement's 6-year service-life extension (20 vs 14 years) and both maintenance schedules come from MnDOT Report 2023-19 (Tables 6.6–6.9). That study compared PG 58H-34 polymer-modified (C grade) and PG 58S-28 unmodified (B grade) binders on Minnesota low-volume roads; applying its life extension to RPF-modified mix is an extrapolation.

Step 1Size the job & money assumptions

Typical values are pre-entered. Replace them with your project's own.

What this sets
MnDOT 2023-19: the report's method (Tables 6.6–6.9): overlay lives of 14 yr (conventional) and 17 yr (polymer), chip seal alone in later cycles, the Colorado price preset, and a 4.0% discount rate. The report itself used 0.66% (MnDOT District 2 LCCA spreadsheet, 2021-22); choose the MnDOT 2023-19 price preset and enter 0.66% at 1 lane-mile over 35 years and the page reproduces its Table 6.9: $499,989 conventional vs $427,742 polymer, 14.4% lower.
Delta Mist standards: 16-yr conventional overlay (NCAT 19-03 Table 2), 19-yr polymer overlay (+3), chip seal + microsurfacing every cycle, 3.0% discount rate, Standard pricing.
Switching resets both schedules, the discount rate, and the price preset. Edit any of them afterward.
MnDOT 2023-19, Tables 6.6–6.9
NCAT SHA range: 25–50 yrs
Guidance & typical values
Pick a window long enough that each alternative's big rehabilitation lands inside it. Typical: 25–50 years. Default: 35, the FHWA-recommended minimum and the original Polymer LCCA default.
NCAT 19-03 (SHA range 25–50 yr) FHWA: ≥35 yr recommended
Guidance & typical values
How much less a future dollar is worth than one today, net of inflation. Typical SHA practice: 3–5% (most commonly ~4%; OMB Circular A-94 publishes federal real rates annually). Default: 4.0%. MnDOT 2023-19 used 0.66% (the District 2 LCCA spreadsheet rate); enter it to match the report. The Delta Mist method uses 3.0%.
NCAT 19-03 Table 8OMB Circular A-94
Project size
mix tons of each overlay (CO2e, plastic diverted)
How tons, square yards, and lane-miles convert
Prices are entered per ton of mix or per lane-mile (they follow this toggle). Behind the scenes the tool converts both to paved area, so tons, lane-miles and prices all stay consistent. Mix tons → SY: tons × 2,000 ÷ (yield × thickness). Lane-miles → SY: lane-miles × 5,280 ft × lane width ÷ 9. Yield is compacted hot-mix per square yard per inch of thickness. Default 113 lb/SY/in, from MnDOT 2023-19 (1,591 t for a 4-in, 12-ft lane-mile; 1,193 t for a 3-in overlay). At 4 in and a 12-ft lane, 1 lane-mile ≈ 7,040 SY ≈ 1,591 tons.
lb / SY / in
Polymer
from the mix design
Guidance
SBS is conventional polymer-modified binder, priced from the unit price table in Step 2. Hybrid feeds recycled polyethylene flake (RPF) into the mix at the plant; Full Wet blends it into the binder at a terminal; Full Wet (mobile blender) blends it at the plant with a mobile blender. All three Driven options use Elvaloy RET blended at the PMA terminal and Driven Plastics' standard dosages, and are priced at Driven's delivered cost. The choice drives Scenario B's polymer price, plastic diverted and modifier carbon.

Step 2Unit prices ($ per ton of mix, curb-to-curb)

Pick a preset to pre-fill standardized prices, then overwrite any cell with your local bid pricing.

% of paving + mill & overlay
Treatment$/tonSource / note
Polymer pricing. In MnDOT 2023-19 the whole premium is in the wearing-course mix: $84.20 vs $80.30 per ton ($3.90/ton, $6,205 per lane-mile at 4 in). The report prices the polymer mill & overlay the same as conventional. Both polymer rows are conventional plus a per-ton premium on the wearing course and overlay tons: SBS uses the SBS premium above; the Driven options (Hybrid, Full Wet, mobile blender) use Driven's delivered cost from Step 1. Replace the SBS premium with your project's quoted price.
Want project-specific pricing? Schedule a meeting
About these presets
MnDOT 2023-19: Table 6.8 (MnDOT LCCA spreadsheet 2021-22, District 2) and the Table 6.4/6.5 initial construction costs, each divided by 7,040 SY per 12-ft lane-mile. Mill & overlay = 3-in mill ($19,512) + 3-in overlay ($95,826) = $115,338 per mile. Cape seal, CIR and FDR aren't in the report (regional values retained).
Standard: Lexington DPW pavement management pricing (ManageMyRoads, 11/26/2025, curb-to-curb only).
MnDOT District 2 (older): older MnDOT statewide placeholders, partial and approximate, for reference only.
Colorado (default): Colorado planning memo (October 2026). HMA $120/ton (CDOT 2025 Cost Data Book item 403-34751, rounded), planing $3.08/SY (item 202-00240), chip seal $4.00/SY, crack seal $70,000 per event on a 147,126 SY project, Driven premium $130 per binder ton ($6.50/ton of mix at 5% binder). Assumes 145 lb/ft³ (set yield to 108.75), a 6-in initial build and a 3-in mill & overlay. Prices are before the memo's 10% construction allowance: set it in the allowance field. The Driven premium is a planning input, not a Driven delivered cost.
Custom: start from any preset and type your own. Any edit switches the preset to Custom.
Initial construction is the report's full-depth new build (subgrade, embankment, base, 4-in wearing course) in every preset: $272,250 (B mix) and $278,454 (C mix) per lane-mile. MnDOT 2023-19, Tables 6.4, 6.5, 6.8

Step 3aScenario A: Conventional

YearActivity$/tonCostToday's $
Scenario A total (NPV)–
per lane-mile · per ton of mix–

Step 3bScenario B: Polymer (RPF)

YearActivity$/tonCostToday's $
Scenario B total (NPV)–
per lane-mile · per ton of mix–
How the end-of-life (RSL credit) works, and why some rows grey out
The analysis stops at a fixed horizon, but pavement keeps its value past it. If a scenario resurfaces near the end of the window, most of that overlay's life is still unused when the clock stops, which is a real asset the agency still owns. So the analysis refunds that unused value as a salvage (RSL) credit, straight-line. Per NCAT 19-03, Eq. 2.

How it's figured (for the last major treatment, which is the initial paving if no overlay lands in the window): remaining life = life − (period − treatment year); credit = −(cost) × remaining ÷ life, discounted to the horizon.

Greyed rows are treatments scheduled after the analysis period. They cost nothing inside the window.

Step 4Results

ScenarioTotal NPVPer lane-milePer ton
–

Where the savings come from (today's $)

BucketConventionalPolymerSavings
Negative savings on initial paving is the polymer premium; the later buckets are what it buys back.

When the money gets spent

Each dot is a treatment. The polymer pavement (orange) pushes maintenance and the big overlays (large dots) to the right, or off the chart.

Cumulative spend over time (today's dollars)

Running total each program has cost by a given year, in present-value dollars. Both lines start at the initial paving cost. The step down at the final year is the end-of-period RSL credit, so each line ends at its scenario's total NPV, and the gap at the right edge always equals the headline savings.

Conventional Polymer (RPF)

CO2e ledger & plastic diverted (physical tons, no discounting, no pricing)

Counts the greenhouse gas of each scheduled treatment, mirroring Step 3. Edit years there, factors here. Initial paving is counted on both sides (NAPA mix factor on the full initial asphalt depth), so it cancels in the difference except for the polymer additive's own production carbon (Driven Plastics EPD). Plastic diverted counts the recycled polyethylene in every ton of polymer mix placed inside the window.

Emission factors (editable)

FactorValueUnit
Crack sealkg CO2e/m²
Microsurfacing (single pass)kg CO2e/m²
Chip sealkg CO2e/m²
Asphalt mix, cradle-to-gate (NAPA)kg CO2e/ton of mix
Mill & overlay, milling + paving ops (ICE)t CO2e/lane-mile
RPF / Elvaloy RET (from EPDs)0.263 / 5.12kg CO2e/kg
Preservation factors match the Delta Mist LCCA. Derived: double micro = 2 × single pass; cape = chip + single micro. Mill & overlay = overlay mix tons × NAPA factor + ICE milling/paving ops (base stone 166.42 t × 0.0045 + steel 2.03 t × 1.16 + diesel 1,165.68 gal × 0.01304 per 12-ft lane-mile), so it scales with overlay thickness. Polymer overlays use the same factors plus the additive (EPD).

Ledger

ScenarioEventst CO2eof which initial pavingof which modifierPolymer mix (t)Plastic (t)
–
Caveats: read before quoting these numbers
  1. No carbon credit is taken for the diverted plastic itself. It is reported as tons of material kept out of the waste stream, not as avoided CO2e.
  2. The additive's production carbon comes from the Driven Plastics EPDs (cradle-to-gate, cut-off method, so recycled content carries no credit). It is added to Scenario B for every polymer placement, including initial paving. The base binder it modifies, and any competing modifier such as SBS, are not counted.
  3. ICE resurfacing is "pavement-material-neutral" and includes ~131 t concrete/lane-mile from mixed-road bid data. Concrete is zeroed here for asphalt roads.
  4. Asphalt mix uses NAPA's 53.7 kg CO2e/ton baseline (virgin mix, 5% binder, natural-gas plant, no RAP), about twice ICE's ~25 kg/t. NAPA notes RAP, plant fuel and haul distance can move a real mix well off this figure; use a plant-specific EPD when one exists.
  5. Mix transport to the jobsite and paving (A4-A5) for initial construction are not counted; NAPA puts them at about 10% or less of cradle-to-gate.
  6. Preservation factors are 2010–2015 literature averages; double micro is assumed = 2 × single pass.
  7. CIR and FDR have no ICE factor loaded and are left out of the ledger.

ReferenceAssumptions & math

Every formula and default this tool uses, in one place.

Project size

SY = tons × 2,000 ÷ (yield × thickness)
SY = lane-miles × 5,280 × lane width ÷ 9

Yield default 113 lb/SY/in, wearing course 4 in, overlay 3 in, lane width 12 ft (all from MnDOT 2023-19). Prices are entered per ton of wearing-course mix or per lane-mile and converted to area (SY), so every cost scales with the paved area:

$/SY = $/lane-mile ÷ (5,280 × width ÷ 9) = $/ton × yield × thickness ÷ 2,000

Driven delivered premium (optional)

premium ($/ton mix) = (RPF lb × RPF $/lb + RET lb × RET $/lb + delivery) × (1 + markup)
RPF lb/ton = 2,000 × RPF dose; RET lb/ton = 2,000 × binder % × RET dose
Delivery: Full Wet terminal and Hybrid = PMA blending fee $/binder ton × binder % (Hybrid adds feeder $/week ÷ (tons/hr × hours/day × days/week); default 400 × 8 × 5 = 16,000 t/week); mobile blender = PPA lb × $/lb + blender $/ton. Hauling is assumed equal to conventional binder and is not counted.
Break-even blending fee vs SBS = (SBS $/binder ton × binder % ÷ (1 + markup) − other premium lines) ÷ binder %
Polymer $/SY = conventional $/SY + premium × yield × layer thickness ÷ 2,000

Used when "Polymer premium from" is set to Driven delivered cost. The premium goes on the wearing course (initial paving) and each polymer overlay's thickness. Lines that apply to the method but are still $0 are listed as not yet priced. Doses are Driven Plastics' standard rates, applied in the calculation and not shown; the carbon ledger uses the same ones.

Present value of each treatment

NPVyear = unit cost × SY × 1 ÷ (1 + r)year

Initial construction sits at year 0 (no discounting). Treatments after the analysis period are excluded. Defaults: 35 years; 4.0% (MnDOT 2023-19 method) or 3.0% (Delta Mist method).

Remaining service life (RSL) credit

salvage = −cost × max(0, life − (period − year)) ÷ life
credit = salvage ÷ (1 + r)period

Basis: the last paving or overlay inside the window. You can change the basis row and life in each scenario.

Totals, savings & return

Scenario total = Σ NPVyear + RSL credit
Savings = Atotal − Btotal
Return on premium = Savings ÷ (Bpaving − Apaving)
Bonus paving = Savings ÷ polymer construction price

Bonus paving is the extra road the savings would pave with polymer mix, shown in tons and lane-miles.

Standard schedules

    CO2e & plastic

    t CO2e = SY × 0.83613 × factor(kg/m²) ÷ 1000
    Initial t CO2e = SY × yield × initial depth ÷ 2,000 × 53.7 ÷ 1000
    M&O t CO2e = overlay mix tons × 53.7 ÷ 1000 + SY ÷ 7040 × 18.30
    RPF mix (t) = SY × yield × thickness ÷ 2,000
    Hybrid: plastic (t) = RPF mix × dosage %
    Full Wet: plastic (t) = RPF mix × binder % × dosage %
    RET (t) = mix × binder % × RET dose (same for every method)
    Modifier t CO2e = (RPF t × 0.263 + RET t × 5.12) × 907.18 ÷ 1000
    SBS: modifier (t) = mix × binder % × 3.5%; t CO2e = modifier × 907.18 × 2.88 ÷ 1000; plastic = 0
    Mobile blender: + RPF mix × binder % × PPA dose × 3,662 ÷ 1000

    Initial construction uses the wearing course thickness; each polymer overlay uses the overlay thickness.

    Carbon assumptions & sources

    • Asphalt mix: 53.7 kg CO2e/ton, cradle-to-gate (A1-A3). NAPA SIP-109 (March 2024) baseline reference scenario: virgin mix, 5% binder, natural-gas plant, aggregates trucked 21.5 mi, no RAP. Applied to the initial asphalt (all lifts) and each overlay's mix tons, on both scenarios.
    • Milling + paving ops: 18.30 t CO2e/lane-mile per mill & overlay: the non-asphalt terms of the FHWA ICE v2.2.8 resurfacing factor (base stone, steel, diesel). Not applied to initial construction.
    • Polymer additive, per component: RPF 0.263 kg CO2e/kg (Driven Plastics LCA, WAP 2024, dry RPF) and Elvaloy RET 5.12 kg CO2e/kg, backed out of the Driven Plastics EPDs (ASTM International, issued 2024-10-25, cradle-to-gate, IPCC AR6, independently verified): Full Wet EPD825 2.45 kg/kg at 55% RPF / 45% RET gives 5.12; Hybrid EPD826 0.95 kg/kg at 86% / 14% gives 5.17. RET is a derived value, not declared. RPF and RET doses are Driven Plastics' standard rates; RET is blended at the PMA terminal at the same % of binder for every method.
    • SBS alternative: 2.88 kg CO2e/kg at 3.5% of binder weight (Asphalt Institute SBS LCA, 2022, cradle-to-gate, IPCC AR6; dose per Asphalt Institute 2019). The same SBS dataset the Driven Plastics LCA benchmarks against. No recycled plastic is counted for SBS.
    • PPA (Full Wet, mobile blender only): Driven Plastics' standard dose at 3,662 kg CO2e/ton, upstream only (NAPA SIP-109 Table 2, after Asphalt Institute 2019). Not part of the Driven Plastics EPD and not counted as recycled plastic. Included in the ledger's "additive" column.
    • Preservation: crack seal, chip seal and microsurfacing per area (Chehovits & Galehouse 2010, via FHWA ICE).
    • Not counted: recycled-content credit (EPD cut-off method), mix haul and paving for initial construction (A4-A5, ~10% or less per NAPA), additive delivery (0.2% of the Full Wet footprint within 70 km per the Driven Plastics LCA), work-zone traffic, pavement use stage, end of life, and the carbon of the base binder or any competing modifier such as SBS.
    • Carbon is reported in physical tons and kept out of the NPV.

    Default treatment service lives

    TreatmentLife (yr)

    Real-world equivalents

    • 4.6 t CO2e = one passenger car for a year
    • 8.887 kg CO2 per gallon of gasoline
    • 0.060 t CO2 per tree seedling grown 10 years