26 Feb, 2019

City of Adelaide and Downer Demonstrate Australian-First Fully Recycled Road

In an Australian-first, City of Adelaide has partnered with Downer to construct the first road made completely from recycled material.

While several new road technologies are being trialled by councils, including the use of recycled tyres and plastics, City of Adelaide will demonstrate this Australian-first 100 per cent recycled road made completely from renewable materials.

The recycled road is made up of reclaimed asphalt pavement from local streets and recycled vegetable oil from local suppliers. The recycled asphalt mix has been processed through Downer’s state-of-the-art asphalt plant in Wingfield, before being laid on Chatham Street in the city’s south west.

Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor said that this demonstration aligns perfectly with Council’s ambitions to become a leading smart, green, liveable and creative city.

“The project originates from a Motion on Notice brought to Council last year, which asked the administration to seek to maximise the amount of recycled material used within our roads,” said the Lord Mayor.

“This is a great example of Council using innovative, methods to improve the work we do throughout the city. At around the same cost as the standard process, the recycled road is cost-effective and, as we’re recycling our own materials, it has a great benefit to the environment.

“We will now closely monitor the road’s performance and durability. Based on the outcomes of this trial, I’m sure Councillors will be open to seeing more of this type of road constructed throughout the city and North Adelaide in the near future.”
Downer’s General Manager – Pavements, Stuart Billing, said the milestone event demonstrated the importance of partnerships with other thought leaders to set new benchmarks in recycling and repurposing local materials into new streams of use.

“Together with City of Adelaide, we have set a new benchmark in achieving sustainable solutions through thought leadership and a determination to make a positive difference,” said Mr Abrahams.

“Further to the direct sustainability benefits of using renewable materials, the 100 per cent recycled road saves up to 65 per cent CO2e emissions when mixed at a lower temperature (warm mix asphalt), compared to standard asphalt made with virgin materials.

“Just as importantly, our Australian-first 100 per cent recycled asphalt is about 25 per cent stronger than standard asphalt, which means it will be able to better resist deformation.

“This demonstration proves that with the right technology and capability we are making City of Adelaide’s roads more sustainable.”

The demonstration will take place at Chatham Street on 26 February at 11:00am. In addition to this demonstration, other alternative recycled surfacing products will be used on Little Sturt Street and Little Gilbert Street. This includes a mix of recycled 63,158 plastic bags, 2,353 glass bottles and expired toner from more than 2,880 toner cartridges. All these materials would have been destined for landfill if they had not been recycled.

Matt Halliwell