A resurfacing project in Victoria’s City of Yarra is using a new sustainable asphalt product that is helping the state make another step towards a circular economy.
Resurfacing works commenced this week with Stanley and Margaret Street in Richmond repaved with PolyPave – an innovative, high performance asphalt product containing recycled plastic, glass and asphalt.
The product was developed by Alex Fraser, Australia’s leading recycler, which is responsible for diverting more than 3.5 million tonnes of waste from landfill every year to manufacture the sustainable construction materials needed to build greener roads.
The trial project in Yarra repurposed about 7,300 2L plastic bottles and 55,000 glass bottles – equivalent to 1500 wheelie bins of waste glass and plastic – to reduce landfill by 97.3 tonnes and carbon emissions by 633 kilograms.
The City of Yarra has already engaged Alex Fraser to repair and repave several more streets in the coming weeks in a project that will divert another 25,000 plastic bottles from entering landfill.
Alex Fraser Managing Director Peter Murphy described the project as ‘a prime example’ of how circular economy can be achieved.
“The City of Yarra’s progressive approach to the use of sustainable material is an excellent illustration of how local councils can proactively reuse the waste generated in their communities to build and maintain their cities while reducing the carbon footprint of their projects by up to 65 per cent,” he said.
Mayor of City of Yarra Cr Daniel Nguyen said incorporating sustainable materials, like glass, recycled concrete and brinl, into road works to build new, sustainable infrastructure was something both parties had worked to achieve for years.
“As a council with a strong focus on sustainability we are excited about using recycled plastics in our latest roadworks for the wide range of environmental benefits it delivers,” the Mayor concluded.
