Path to sustainability: plastic roads
The City of Rotterdam has signed up to trial roads made from 100 percent recycled plastic.
The plastic roads developed by VolkerWessels are made up of versatile prefabricated hollow sections.
The 100 percent recycled plastic roads may be able to sustain temperatures ranging from minus 40 degrees Celcius up to 80 degrees Celcius.
Rotterdam in the Netherlands may be one of the first places in the world to have plastic roads that are made using 100 percent plastic waste after signing up to trial new technology.
The city is set to introduce some roads made from recycled plastic bottles in the next few years, trying out plastic roads that have been developed by KWS Infra, an arm of the construction firm VolkerWessels.
The roads are made using prefabricated sections made of recycled plastic, and the hollow structure allows the roads to be installed on many different surface types, including sand. The plastic roads could last three times longer than asphalt roads.
KWS Infra director Rolf Mars said that the company has developed the first recycled plastic roads in the world.
“Plastic offers lots of advantages compared to current road structures, both in the construction and the maintenance of it,” he said.
The plastic roads require very little maintenance, and may be able to sustain temperatures ranging from minus 40 degrees Celcius up to 80 degrees Celcius.
The fully recycled plastic roads will have a surface that is more resistant to weather and abrasion than conventional road surface materials.
Plastic waste has been used on roads in India in recent years, with shredded plastic combined with asphalt.
