Millions of tonnes of sandstone taken from underneath Sydney’s WestConnex is being repurposed to build parts of Western Sydney International Airport.
Since March, 983,000 tonnes of aggregate sandstone have been delivered to the site, which will be used to construct the airport’s taxiways and roads. Over the life of the project, an estimated 4.5 million tonnes of recycled sandstone will be used.
The sandstone is being extracted from two of the WestConnex tunnelling sites, the M4-M5 Link and the Rozelle Interchange.
According to Environment Minister Sussan Ley, the opportunity to reuse resources across across both projects by recycling sandstone makes economic and environmental sense.
“Construction and demolition waste is an increasing issue in Australia as our cities and towns grow, so it is wonderful to see a practical on the ground solution for the reuse of this sandstone between the projects,” she said.
“The Federal Government is strongly committed to significantly increasing the use of recycled content by both governments and industry.”
Population, Cities and Urban Infrastructure Minister Alan Tudge said the agreement is not only environmentally and economically beneficial, but will help progress the two “mega projects.”
“Western Sydney International is one the biggest earthmoving projects in Australian history and recycling the sandstone from the WestConnex tunnels helps deliver world-class infrastructure,” he said.
Western Sydney International Airport is being delivered through a $5.3 billion Federal Government investment and remains on track to commence operations in 2026.
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