East Renfrewshire Council to surface road in recycled plastic

Plastic bottles - Image credit: Press Association

East Renfrewshire Council is trying out a radical new road surfacing material that could lead to less waste going to landfill.

The local authority is resurfacing part of the Eaglesham Road using an asphalt material containing recycled plastic.

The 200 tonnes of road covering will include the equivalent 100,000 plastic bottles and 175,000 plastic bags.

The other part of the road will be surfaced using conventional tarmac to allow for comparison between the two materials in similar conditions.

According to roads manager Jane Corrie, lab testing has shown the new material to be more resistant to rutting and cracking than traditional road coverings, giving it a longer lifespan and making it better value over the long term.

Work starts on Monday and is due to be completed in mid-August 2018.

If the trial is successful, East Renfrewshire Council plans to use waste plastic collected from households for other road resurfacing projects.

Councillor Alan Lafferty, convener for environment at East Renfrewshire Council, said: “We are delighted to be trialling this new technology and if it is a success, it will be good news for our roads and our environment.

“As the two phases are adjacent and subject to similar traffic loading, weather and laying conditions it will allow us to analyse and monitor the performance of each material against the other more accurately. 

“This will enable our roads team to consider whether it will be beneficial to our residents and communities to adopt plastic roads more widely.

“If the plastic roads prove to be as durable and cost effective as we hope, our ambition is to use plastic from East Renfrewshire households to build our own roads. 

“Whilst we were the first local authority in Scotland to recycle more than 60 per cent of its household waste, we are always looking to improve these figures and this scheme is another unique way to contribute to this.”