By Holly McGuinness
The Craigieburn Road upgrades are sustainably moving forward, integrating recycled materials into the asphalt.
The material called Reconophalt™ is a type of asphalt bonded together using soft plastics, ink toner residue, glass and recycled asphalt.
Plans are in place to utilise the material more extensively across the Craigieburn Road project in upcoming months.
Major Road Projects Victoria program director Dipal Sorathia said they often explore options to utilise recycled materials.
“Laying a product such as Reconophalt™ is a great example of how we can shift waste from being a problem, to an opportunity,” he said.
Three and a half thousand tonnes of the Reconophalt™ has already been used earlier this year for a one- kilometre stretch of Craigieburn Road where it intersects with Mickleham Road.
Materials used for that intersection included the equivalent of 800,000 plastic bags, 250,000 glass bottles and over 18,000 old toner cartridges.
The product has been proven to show stronger durability than regular asphalt with reduced wear and tear, reduced cracking and advanced resistance.
The Reconophalt™ has an extended fatigue life of 65 per cent, meaning it lasts longer and for further sustainability can be recycled over again after use.
The sustainable road is part of the ‘Recycled First’ initiative in alignment with the Victorian government’s Big Build and is intended to be implemented across future state projects.
