Australia finds new way to recycle plastic bags

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New South Wales broke ground on Friday on a 250-meter road made primarily out of recycled plastic bags.

The project utilizes a new material known as plastiphalt, turning plastic bags, glass bottles and used printer cartridges into a drivable roadway.

"Plastic is collected, basically intercepted from going into landfills, it's then processed and attached to other materials to form a special pellet which is then digested into asphalt," General Manager of Downer Jim Appleby told Xinhua News Agency.

Downer is a provider of infrastructure-related services, and is collaborating with other Australian companies, namely Close the Loop, RED Group and Plastic Police, on the project.

VCG Photo

The section of the street being laid on Friday used 220 tonnes of the new material, which came from 176,000 plastic bags and 55,000 glass bottles.

Just as plastic doesn't degrade in the environment, the materials used to build the road can be dug up and used over again.

"Now it's in the road, in many years' time when that road reaches its end of life it can be dug up and reused in its entirety," Appleby said.

Australia has been trying to minimize its plastic waste output by removing disposable bags from supermarkets and transforming recyclable waste into infrastructures such as roads, play areas, and park benches.

With four billion bags being used in Australia each year, and most of that end up in landfills, alternative solutions are in high demand.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency