City of Greater Geelong increases use of recycled materials

The City Of Greater Geelong has saved the equivalent of 3500 kilograms of plastic from landfill through a trial of PlastiPhalt, a new form of durable asphalt made from recycled plastics.

The microplastic-free asphalt was used on 1100 metres of road on Roslyn Road in Highton, Moorabool Street in Geelong and Purnell Road in Corio earlier this year.

Additionally, the City’s 2019-20 Annual Report shows that it used 8745 tonnes of recycled asphalt materials to build and renew roads, footpaths and street furniture and recycled nearly 6548 tonnes of concrete.

According to City Services Director Guy Wilson-Browne, this is a significant increase on the annual baseline expectation of 8000 tonnes of asphalt recycled in-house and 3000 tonnes of recycled concrete.

“The City is constantly investigating new and innovative ways to avoid waste and use recycled products and materials in projects, reflecting goals from the community’s clever and creative vision for the region,” he said.

“We aim to be a leader in this very important space by setting high environmental standards for projects and sustainable solutions.”

Wilson-Browne added that the City assesses every project during the design phase to identify opportunities to use recycled materials during construction and include items such as recycled plastic bollards and benches.

Highlights from 2019-20 include a recycled rubber athletics track that was unveiled late last year at Goldsworthy Reserve in Geelong’s north, and the use of green concrete containing waste materials during construction of two roads in Drysdale and Corio.

In May this year, a tender was awarded to five businesses to provide asphalt products using innovative recycling methods.

The successful tenderers are currently researching the use of foam bitumen containing recycled road pavements and asphalt, and GripPhalt, which uses up to 90 per cent of recycled and renewable material.

One business has committed to trialling glass in base layers of pavements in Greater Geelong.

The City has also submitted grant applications to support the use of crumb rubber mix and recycled asphalt pavement to pave roads.

Geelong’s Waste and Resource Recovery Strategy 2020-2030 was adopted in April this year, which guides the City on how it can contribute to a circular economy.

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