Did you know roads are made from recycled materials?

Glass, plastic and toner cartridges are recycled into roads at Elara.

A road construction project in Stockland Elara scaling new heights in recycling.
Many of the roads in Stockland’s Elara development in Marsden Park have been surfaced with Reconophalt asphalt, which contains up to 40% recycled material.
Blacktown City Mayor Tony Bleasdale OAM said; “The road surfaces contain thousands of tonnes of recycled glass, plastics and even toner cartridges.
“This process helps reinforce our Council’s commitment to environmentally-friendly policies, saving significant quantities of glass and plastics from being sent to landfill sites.” Mayor Bleasdale said.
Stockland’s Project Director Mike Milligan, said: “Stockland is committed to using sustainable materials in its masterplanned communities.
“Elara is one of a number of our communities using recycled asphalt, which fits with our approach to sustainability to deliver shared value for our residents and Councils alike, now and in the future. We hope residents who recycle their soft plastics and glass feel positive about their actions that help to make roads like this possible,” said Mr Milligan.
Downer produces Reconophalt road surfacing material in Australia containing high recycled content derived from waste streams, such as soft plastics, glass and toner, which would otherwise go to landfill or be stockpiled.
Downer’s Road Surfacing Manager, Darren Prosser, said; “Downer is heavily focused on supplying sustainable products and diversion of valuable waste materials”.
“The road construction project in the Elara estate using Reconophalt contained the equivalent of almost 700,000 glass bottles, 5 million plastic bags and 1,600 tonnes of recycled asphalt milled locally from old roads and construction sites.
Todd Thornton, Area Manager for contractor BMD Urban, said; “From a contractor’s point of view this was a good, easy project to manage.
“The process of applying Reconophalt asphalt with its superior performance qualities, was a no-brainer for us in terms of benefits to the stakeholders and the community.”
Council’s Director of City Assets Paul Belz said; “The developers, Stockland and the contractors came to us with an alternative way to construct the local roads."

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