The Washington State DOT has an educational page on de-icers. They make their own de-icer using salt water provided by Darigold for free. Darigold saves treatment and disposal costs for a cheese by-product and our state saves money. The other ingredients are de-sugared molasses, which help the de-icer bind to the road and last longer, and calcium chloride, which keeps it effective down to 10 degrees F. The page also describes other snow and ice removal techniques.