FOLLOW THE RECYCLED ROAD
10 Jul 2018
Recycled roads could be a thing of the future with a new project in Melbourne that sees landfill plastics and glass combined to create a suburban road. Could this be the start of a revolutionary move from asphalt to sustainable surfacing?
The 300-metre stretch of road will be made from 200,000 plastic bags, packaging and 63,000 glass bottle equivalents.
Hume City Council and Infrastructure Company Downer have partnered with resource recovery and recycling companies, Close the Loop and RED Group, for the recycled plastic road trial.
“This sustainable, cost competitive road has a 65 percent improvement in fatigue life and a superior resistance to deformation, making the road last longer and allowing it to better handle heavy vehicle traffic,” said Downer’s executive general manager Dante Cremasco.
Toner from more than 4500 used printer cartridges and 50 tonnes of recycled asphalt were also repurposed to create 250 tonnes of asphalt that will be used to construct the road around Rayfield Avenue, Craigieburn. 
The trial follows a push to reuse more rubbish locally and comes after China has reduced the amount of recyclable material it sources from Australian recycling companies.
Hume Mayor Geoff Porter said Council is eager to monitor the trial of how this recycled asphalt and new road surface performs over time. “Sustainability is a key priority for our Council and community,” he explained.
Downer and Close the Loop have previously collaborated on developing a new type of asphalt called TonerPave, which is made largely from Modified Toner Polymer. It has been used in road construction around Sydney and Melbourne.
