Frankston City Council has used recycled materials for several recent infrastructure projects. They were so successful, the city is planning more local road works using recycled materials.
Frankston City Council in Victoria is committed to reducing its environmental impacts, so using recycled materials for a recent infrastructure project seemed a natural fit.
The council received $300,000 from the Victorian Government’s Sustainable Infrastructure Fund to contribute to the construction of a concrete pedestrian footpath, concrete kerb, channel and indented parking, drainage works, road resurfacing and traffic management improvements at Brighton Street, Frankston South.
It included ‘Reconophalt’, a road surfacing material containing high recycled content including soft plastics, glass and printer toner, and ‘Green Pipe’ drainage pipes made from recycled plastic. Concrete supplied on the project included ‘Polyrok’, an aggregate alternative containing recycled soft plastics, which was used to construct footpath, kerb and channel and an indented parking bay.
Cam Arullanantham, Council Director Infrastructure and Operations says the project’s success has given other council departments confidence to consider recycled products in future.
“Council was able to successfully divert the waste from landfill while constructing essential road infrastructure. Using recycled products and materials helped to reduce the overall environmental footprint, which is a great outcome for council and its community,” he says.
Cam says there is a lot of community support for sustainable outcomes. He believes the success of projects such as those in Frankston will lead to an increase in demand and investment in innovative, environmentally friendly solutions by other councils.
Frankston council’s procurement policy encourages the use of products that have minimal impact on the environment and human health and to support suppliers that are socially responsible and adopt ethical practices.
Cam says no changes in policy or procedures were needed to use the recycled materials and the council was able to specify suppliers and products within its tender criteria to guarantee their use in the project. He says the only challenge was ensuring they were working with suitable lengths of The Green Pipe for installation.
“There were no major issues. All recycled products used in the project were readily available and implemented per conventional construction techniques and practice.”
Sustainability Victoria has launched the Buy Recycled Service to boost the use of recycled products in local government projects and support councils to become leaders in sustainable procurement.
The service provides tools and resources to ensure recycled products are considered at each stage of the procurement cycle and is part of the Recycled First Local Government program, delivered as part of the Victorian Government’s circular economy plan, Recycling Victoria: A new economy.
Cam says councils looking to use recycled products traditionally rely on the products and materials approved by VicRoads, the Department of Transport or Australian Standards because it gives them surety that the product has been tested and will perform to the end of its life cycle.
He says one of the barriers for councils may be not having the VicRoads specifications for the recycled products.
“The Buy Recycled Service provides a comprehensive directory for councils to easily sort, preview and understand what products are available to them, as well as provide direct contacts for councils to get additional information from suppliers should they need. For some products, VicRoads and Australian Standards are provided which makes product selection easier.
“It is a great resource that collates information on new products which are not common knowledge, providing councils with additional, environmentally friendly options to consider, procure and implement,” he says.
Cam said, based on the council’s experience with the procurement, installation and constructability of the recycled products used, the council would consider using the products in similar road projects in the future.
“Council is always looking for opportunities to incorporate recycled products in our projects. After the Brighton Street project, the Polyrok concrete product was used for the construction of a shared user path at Stotts Lane, Frankston South.
“Frankston council manages about 709 kilometres of roads, many of which could benefit from use of Reconophalt or similar surfacing treatments as part of the road asset renewal program.”
For more information, visit: www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/buy-recycled-service
Sustainability Victoria is hosting a council masterclass on May 18. For more information, visit: www.eventbrite.com.au/e/boosting-the-circular-economy-through-local-government-procurement-tickets-323580908207