The United States uses four times as much road salt as it did 40 years ago, says Stateline, which covers policy at the state level. For financial and environmental reasons, states are trying to reduce salt use with approaches that include adding a bit of sugarcane molasses, cheese brine or dregs from beer-making to liquid salt brine.
By itself, liquid salt brine is a large step toward less use of road salt. The brine helps the salt stick to the pavement and it creates a barrier that keeps snow and ice from bonding to the road. In Iowa, West Des Moines uses sugarbeet molasses — “it’s like putting Coca-Cola down,” says its public service director. “It’s sugar and it’s sticky.”
Since 2008, Polk County in east-central Minnesota has used cheese brine from a local dairy. The county road commissioner says the cheese brine reduced the amount of salt used on country roads and saved money.