From a European perspective, the share of recycling of reclaimed asphalt (RA) that is reused in new asphalt surface courses is rather lower than what can be technically achieved. The use of RA in pavement construction can conserve natural resources and reduce environmental impacts (e.g. CO2 emissions, depletion of natural resources etc). However, for RA to be used to its full potential it must first be fully characterised. This would include an environmental assessment to determine whether or not the RA contains any contaminants associated with its previous use as a pavement material. Without this information the handling and reuse of RA could cause adverse environmental and health effects due to new or higher emissions of potentially hazardous substances. To increase the reuse of RA, and to ensure safe handling during the whole life cycle, it is thus important to correctly characterise these materials and to quantify potential emissions that arise at different stages (e.g. during production, processing and handling etc.). This study outlines a methodology for the environmental characterisation of RA, allowing the identification of potentially hazardous compounds in RA. This includes: (1) GC-MS screening to identify potentially hazardous organic compounds susceptible to leaching from RA; (2) Identification and evaluation of leaching tests (both with respect to characterization and compliance testing); (3) Ecotoxicological testing of leachates, using a biotest battery (freshwater algae, terrestrial plant, water arthropod and fish) that represent different trophic levels. The study is part of the European FP7 project Re-Road - end of life strategies of asphalt pavements.