Flagship project in São Paulo is revolutionizing the Brazilian asphalt market

Pioneer and visionary: Usicity, a subsidiary of CITYS and construction and infrastructure giant Turita Holding Group, is the first company in the Southern Hemisphere to commission an RPP 4000 HG from Benninghoven, about 30 km from downtown São Paulo. With this move, the company is helping drive a fundamental shift in asphalt production in Brazil, by adopting modern technology that enables high recycling rates, promotes material reuse, and helps reduce carbon emissions from operations. All this results directly in high-quality asphalt mixtures that meet all the requirements for road construction.

New ground for asphalt production

The use of RAP (hot recycling) in Brazil is still in its infancy. Milled asphalt material is often classified as hazardous waste and is usually not returned to the production cycle. Although the market increasingly demands alternative solutions, many municipalities and private road operators still have reservations about using mixtures with a high proportion of RAP. Usicity is committed to eliminating this bias and has adopted international best practices to strengthen the industry’s confidence in recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) and to trigger a rethink. The stationary batch plant from Benninghoven is playing a key role in this strategy. Able to operate at a high output with RAP ratios of up to 100%, the RPP 4000 HG is both efficient and economical. In addition, it can produce highly specialized mixtures – for technically complex applications such as highways and airports, but also for conventional roads, public transportation depots and more.

Ambitious targets

The RPP makes all the difference: Its innovative technology makes it ideal for the South American company to achieve their ambitious targets, which would not have been possible with the previous plant: Up to 1 million tons of high quality asphalt is set to be produced for the around 17,000 km of roads and intra-urban transport routes and for the 1,059 km of highways in Greater São Paulo – an enormous potential market and six times the annual production volume of a plant in Germany. In terms of infrastructure, conditions are ideal for this project: The quarry of partner company Riuma and a large RAP storage area are located directly next to the plant.

Partnership and innovative thinking are making the change possible

Nothing gets done without commitment and strong partners. The excellent and close collaboration with Ciber and Benninghoven was a key factor of success from the start. There has been a close business connection with Ciber via the Turita Holding Group for many years, also leading to initial contact with Benninghoven.

The Bauma 2022 exhibition offered the Brazilian company the opportunity to tour several reference plants in Germany before committing to the investment, including at Knäble in Biberach. The focus was not only on the operation and strong innovation of the plant, but also on after sales service, training and technical support.

Once the decision to purchase was made, everything went smoothly and quickly, with employees receiving in-depth training well in advance. The training focused on the BLS 4 control system, including the recipe generator – two key components for safely and efficiently running the plant. Installation and commissioning were managed by experienced Benninghoven supervisor Karl-Heinz Würges with the local team. This means that any mechanical adjustment can be done by the local plant personnel in the future. Technical issues relating to the control system, such as the burner and automation, are handled by Ciber for first level support or remotely by Benninghoven in Wittlich, Germany. As the icing on the cake, Usicity was also provided with an extensive spare parts package of genuine parts, which are stored directly next to the plant.

Contact with Benninghoven is ongoing, including after commissioning. While the RPP plant type has long been standard in Germany and Western Europe, it is still a novelty in Brazil and all the experience being garnered is deliberately getting very close support – on the principle of being “Close to our customers”.

Investing in Brazil’s shift toward recycling

By using recycled asphalt, processes with lower emissions, and resource-efficient production methods, Usicity is working to make asphalt with high RAP content a standard option across Latin America. With the RPP 4000 HG, the company is already perfectly positioned for the future. This can deliver the high production capacities that are required, achieve increasing RAP ratios, which are currently still low, and – thanks to state-of-the-art hot gas generator technology – already meet exacting emissions standards.

Usicity is now planning to make another key green investment with the deployment of hydrogen as a burner fuel. Thanks to its high energy density, hydrogen is an effective fuel for heating and, depending on its source and the way in which it is used, can significantly reduce carbon emissions from operations. Once again, Benninghoven is the ideal partner for this step. A generation of burners capable of running on 100% hydrogen has been available as a standard option since April 2025, giving asphalt production another major boost in innovation. The technology can be used as a Retrofit solution for existing asphalt mixing plants, meaning that the Brazilian company can change over at any time.

Role model and pioneer for South America

Usicity has made its vision for the South American region a reality. The new plant exceeds all expectations, proving that high-performance asphalt production with state-of-the-art recycling technology is setting new standards in terms of quality and efficiency. This was and is a bold step in a market that still needs convincing. But it is also a step that is setting an example for the entire industry.