I found this article fascinating, and wonder if anyone in the U.S. is using plastic waste to surface roads as one factory in Scotland is now doing. Here's the story
SCOTLAND NEWS: Lockerbie plastic roads firm MacRebur
opens first factory
A company which uses plastic waste to surface roads has
opened its first factory in Dumfries and Galloway. The MacRebur plant in
Lockerbie will take rubbish which would have gone to landfill to help produce
asphalt.
A one-kilometre stretch of road made with its mix would use the
equivalent of about 684,000 plastic bottles or 1.8m single-use plastic bags. The
granules are mixed with an activator to make the plastic bind and it is then
bagged ready to be distributed to asphalt producers. The company said its mix allowed the bitumen
used in the production of asphalt to be extended and enhanced, reducing the
amount of fossil fuel used.
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If the company's claims are right about the robustness of its product, plastic roads could be a game changer. We all know what a nuisance potholes can be. If we can reduce them while putting waste plastic to good use it's a double whammy.
WHAT CONVENTIONAL ROADS USE
Conventional roads use crude oil to make bitumen which binds the rocks, limestone and sand. This new process replaces some of that oil with plastic. And there's apparently a "secret ingredient" in there too.
TRIALS
Trials have taken place in a few areas including Dumfries and Galloway and Aberdeenshire.
MacRebur say they are also working with Tesco to fix some of their car parks. And they have just agreed a £1.6m deal with the Department of Transport to test the technology in Cumbria.
Confidence in them is growing. So much so they have now opened this factory near Lockerbie so they can make their own recycled plastic pellets rather than buying them in.
But we will have to wait and see what a hardy Scottish winter will do to their claims. And their roads.
