The Case for Soy-Powered Infrastructure

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FACT #1: BIO-BASED REJUVENATORS SAVE MONEY BY EXTENDING PAVEMENT LIFE

Independent field trials conducted for the Missouri Department of Transportation show that a single application of a soy-based rejuvenator can **delay costly mill-and-fill overlays by 3–5 years.**³ Over a typical 20-year pavement life cycle, that translates into:

• 30–40 percent lower life-cycle cost compared with hot-mix overlays or micro-surfacing.
  
  
• Fewer work orders for local agencies already short on staff and equipment.
  
  
• Predictable maintenance scheduling, allowing contractors to level out seasonal revenue swings.
  
  

The savings are magnified for municipalities with large paved assets—think school districts, county road systems, airports, and distribution centers. Jackson County, MO, for example, reports spending less than one-third the budgeted amount on patching and resurfacing after switching to soy-oil preservation four years ago.

In an era when every public works director is asked to “do more with less,” treatments derived from Missouri soybeans put real dollars back into the capital plan.

FACT #2: SOY-OIL PRODUCTS TURN HIGHWAY MAINTENANCE INTO A CARBON-REDUCTION TOOL

Traditional seal coats and emulsions rely on petroleum solvents and aggregate mining—both carbon-intensive processes. By contrast, soy-based chemistries begin with renewable carbon that plants have already removed from the atmosphere. A peer-reviewed life-cycle assessment conducted by the University of Illinois found that RePlay delivers a net-negative carbon balance of –2.8 kg CO₂-e per treated lane-mile when applied at the recommended 2.7 gal/1000 ft² rate.⁴

Key contributors to the carbon benefit:

• No heated storage or application. RePlay is spray-applied at ambient temperature, eliminating burner fuel.
  
  
• Zero aggregate. The product penetrates existing asphalt instead of embedding new rock.
  
  
• Biogenic carbon storage. Fifty-eight percent of RePlay’s carbon content originates in soybean oil produced on Midwestern farms.
  
  

For contractors pursuing Envision® or LEED® credits—and for agencies working toward state or federal greenhouse-gas targets—soy-derived sealants offer a practical way to decarbonize routine maintenance without changing paving specs or equipment.

FACT #3: SOY-BASED TREATMENTS MAKE ROADS SAFER FOR WORKERS AND FAMILIES

High-speed traffic is the leading hazard in highway maintenance. Every extra minute a lane remains closed exposes workers—and the driving public—to crash risk. Because soy-oil rejuvenators cure in as little as 30 minutes, lane closures are often 70 percent shorter than they are for chip seal or micro-surfacing operations.⁵

Additional safety advantages include:

• No loose rock to damage windshields or create skid haza​rds.
  
  
• Low-odor, low-VOC application, reducing respiratory exposure and eliminating neighborhood complaints.
  
  
• Ambient-temperature spraying removes the burn danger associated with 325 °F hot mix.
  
  

These factors have led several DOTs, including Missouri, Tennessee, and Arizona, to list soy-based preservation in their standard maintenance specs—specifically citing safety and user-delay benefits.