Recycled plastic has been used in the resurfacing of several major roads in Cumbria including the A7. The new asphalt product uses waste plastic in pellet form to replace some of the bituminous binder.

 

On the recent A7 project on the Kingstown Road / Scotland Road – one of the main arterial routes into Carlisle – the recycled plastic material made use of the equivalent of 500,000 plastic bottles and 800,000 plastic carrier bags. The £200,000 resurfacing scheme was completed last month by supplier MacRebur.

 

Cumbria County Council shared its experience on Friday with officials from the Department for Transport who are said to be exploring the viability of new innovations and technology for improving highway infrastructure.

 

“We have been very pleased with the results,” said County Councillor Keith Little. “Using this waste plastic material provides a more sustainable solution for road resurfacing and we will be using it in a number of locations across Cumbria’s road network.”

 

Cumbria’s assistant director for highways, transport and fleet Stephen Hall added: “Our industry has a significant environmental impact in terms of carbon footprint, use of oil based products and the use of quarried material. I believe it is incumbent upon us to seek new and innovative ways to mitigate this impact and using waste plastic in the road surface is something we have been very keen to support.”

 

(Photo: Cumbria County Council)