AKRON, Ohio -- Ahead of two 40-foot-long wheeled machines was worn, cracked asphalt. Behind them, as the machines crept along an Akron street Tuesday, was fresh, smooth blacktop.

"Isn't this amazing?" marveled Pittsburgh Councilwoman Darlene Harris, who led a contingent of local officials intrigued by the prospect of recycling Pittsburgh's tired asphalt, just as Akron is doing. "It looks like brand new ... It's saving money, time, the environment."

She's leading a push for the city to buy a $2 million asphalt recycling system, hoping to start the purchase and thereby spotlight Pittsburgh's green credentials before the G-20 summit set for Sept. 24 and 25.

"It's definitely something worth looking at," said Robert Kaczorowski, deputy director of operations for Pittsburgh's Public Works Department.

Invented by the late McKees Rocks native Angelo Benedetti, asphalt recycling is billed as greener and cheaper than the usual process of milling off old pavement and laying down fresh stuff. Akron-area Angelo Benedetti Inc. owns the patent and has been a resurfacing contractor for green-minded cities for decades.

This year, the company saw the ascent of pro-environment President Barack Obama, and penny-pinching by local governments, and decided to shift from contracting to selling the big machines to municipalities, said firm President Al Benedetti, the founder's son. So far, he's sold a few in Mexico, and one to Akron. Cleveland and Chicago are among numerous cities considering purchases.

The $2 million gets two custom-made behemoths. The 34-ton preheater torches the street to 400 degrees. The 46-ton recycler scoops up the top two inches of asphalt, grinds it, heats it more, adds a squirt of oil-based emulsifier and lays it back on the road.

The two machines amble along at around 20 feet per minute, and typically renew a quarter mile of street per day. Akron counts on recycled streets remaining in good condition for five to seven years -- slightly less than the seven to nine years of a freshly repaved surface.

"I'm really happy with the results," said Steven Batdorf, Akron's highway maintenance superintendent. A crew of eight to 10 has been running the machines since June, with the goal of renewing 18 miles of streets. Akron will conventionally repave another 24 miles, but is considering buying a second tandem.

Akron Public Works Manager Paul Barnett estimated that recycling is saving the city 35 percent versus regular resurfacing, after factoring in the cost of the machine. That lets the city keep eight workers who would otherwise be laid off.

As a result of recycling and lower prices it pays for conventional repaving, Akron is getting more blacktop for the buck than Pittsburgh. Akron expects to spend $4.2 million to redo 42 miles -- or $100,000 per mile.

Pittsburgh's paying nearly $300,000 per mile -- $9.5 million to contractors to mill and repave 32 miles. It will do another few miles in-house. Officials cautioned that it's tough to compare cities' per-mile costs, because they mill to different depths and require different degrees of work on the road base.

Asphalt recycling could save a lot, based on calculations by Council Budget Director William Urbanic, who joined Ms. Harris, Mr. Kaczorowski, an acting public works foreman and a city heavy equipment operator in Akron Tuesday.

Mr. Urbanic estimated that it would cost the city around $42,000 a mile to recycle, not including the price of the machine. If it works out that way, the recyclers could do 20 miles a year at the price the city is now paying for 3 miles of conventional resurfacing. That could get the city closer to the 86 miles a year it should redo to keep up with deterioration.

Mr. Burnett said recycling eliminates the manufacturing of fresh asphalt, the removal of debris from milling old pavement and the trucking of new blacktop to sites. That would cut greenhouse emissions from paving by 85 percent.

It's also quicker. "You're doing it all in one step," said Ms. Harris, who is council's Public Works Committee chair. "People get very upset when they have to have a street graded and it sits there for a month" before it is repaved, she said.