This company is using recycled plastic milk bottles to repave roads in South Africa

[IronLionZion]

https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/30/business/plastic-roads-in-south-africa-intl/index.html



A South African company is taking plastic bottles out of landfill to make roads.
(CNN Business)Plastic milk bottles are being recycled to make roads in South Africa, with the hope of helping the country tackle its waste problem and improve the quality of its roads.

Potholes cost the country's road users an estimated $3.4 billion per year in vehicle repairs and injuries, according to the South African Road Federation, as well as damaging freight.
In August, Shisalanga Construction became the first company in South Africa to lay a section of road that's partly plastic, in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province on the east coast.

It has now repaved more than 400 meters of the road in Cliffdale, on the outskirts of Durban, using asphalt made with the equivalent of almost 40,000 recycled two-liter plastic milk bottles.


Road to recycling
Shisalanga uses high-density polyethylene (HDPE), a thick plastic typically used for milk bottles. A local recycling plant turns it into pellets, which are heated to 190 degrees Celsius until they dissolve and are mixed with additives. They replace six percent of the asphalt's bitumen binder, so every ton of asphalt contains roughly 118 to 128 bottles.

Shisalanga says fewer toxic emissions are produced than during traditional processes and says its compound is more durable and water resistant than conventional asphalt, withstanding temperatures as high as 70 degrees Celsius (158F) and as low as 22 below zero (-7.6F).
The cost is similar to existing methods, but Shisalanga believes there will be a financial saving as its roads are expected to last longer than the national average of 20 years.
"The results are spectacular," says general manager Deane Koekemoer. "The performance is phenomenal."

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. I am pleased to see this happening.

The article also talks about microplastic problems and possible solutions.

[IronLionZion]

4. I hope they find a solution to the microplastic problem

that would be a problem anywhere, whether it's in a landfill or the ocean or lying out on the street.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

7. I hope so too! That one really needs solving. n/t

[Sienna86]

2. Very cool.

If so, this will help use up the waste we produce.

[yortsed snacilbuper]

3. Archaeological dig.

[Backseat Driver]

5. Sounds like a win - I recycle mine in a long line

inside the garage filled with water for possible emergency household use and clean duck water should the pond freeze solid (nothing open) during the winter or for rescued babies in the spring - it is unlikely for the pond to completely freeze because the little critters huddle in a small spot that keeps it open well below zero by body temp and paddling in place; they do have a wind-break duck hut with straw they don't often use. Last year, a hawk took a wild mallard just 5 ft or so off from their puddle and ate in on the ice while the feral domestic flock just sat there watching - no encouragement could make them move away from the predator's feasting...weird!

[KPN]

6. Awesome idea. Hope it works out as well as expected.

Plastic is made from oil, so this makes sense.

[bucolic_frolic]

8. A guy in Scotland was doing this a few years ago

I think he was using far more plastic than 6%. But alternative uses are a major part of the answer. Plastic roads should be more waterproof and durable. Of course they have to install them right, with a deep enough base, compacted, etc.

Soon everything will be paved!

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-48332259

Of course using plastic frees up costs and materials for other uses, and faster economic growth! Consuming our way to save the planet is not in my mind a feasible goal. Mother Nature needs rest, not hyperactivity.

In fact plastic roads have been around more than 10 years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_roads