The Dutch road infrastructure sector is highly resource intensive, with asphalt production alone accounting for significant carbon emissions and virgin material demand. Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) offers a proven opportunity to reduce this impact, yet its large scale reuse remains constrained by barriers. Existing literature often highlights technical and regulatory issues, but rarely considers how governance structures shape these challenges and how different stakeholders experience them.
This study investigates the barriers to RAP reuse in the Netherlands and analyses how governance dynamics influence these barriers. This research adopts an exploratory qualitative approach by combining literature review and stakeholder interviews across the asphalt value chain to identify and analyze barriers to RAP reuse. To interpret governance dynamics, the study applies Multi-level governance (MLG) theory to road construction projects in the Netherlands as case studies.
The findings show that the barriers to increasing RAP reuse can be categorized under four categories: Technical, Cultural, Regulatory, & Market. Stakeholder perspective diverge, for instance, contractors and asphalt plants emphasize technical barriers, government bodies emphasize regulatory barriers, while research and knowledge institutes highlight cultural barriers like lack of information sharing and overall collaboration across the sector. Project level analysis reveals that governance structures reinforce these barriers: centralized decision making authority, rigid and jurisdictional boundaries provide stability but limit adaptability. Also, fragmented coordination and practices across levels and actors limits the transfer of lessons from pilot projects to sector-wide standards.
The study concludes that neither Type of MLG, Type I (hierarchical, general-purpose, and rigid) or Type II (flexible, task-specific, and collaborative) is alone sufficient for scaling up RAP reuse. Instead, complementarity between the two is needed: Type I must provide stability through national standards and monitoring frameworks, while Type II must foster innovation through pilots, capacity building, and cross-actor coordination. By combining these features, governance can become a lever for overcoming barriers and enhancing the circular potential of RAP.