The City of Melbourne uses recycled plastic on five key roads

The City of Melbourne is trialling a new plastic asphalt mix to resurface five popular streets in the CBD.

Works will use asphalt containing 50 per cent recycled plastic and other recyclable materials such as slag, aggregates and reclaimed asphalt products.

The first road to be resurfaced using this mix was Flinders Street, late last year. Sections of Anderson Street and Alexandra Avenue in South Yarra have also been resurfaced using the mix.

Sections of Spring Street are being upgraded this year between Little Collins Street and Little Bourke Street and Flinders Street and Collins Street.

Deputy Lord Mayor Arron Wood said the City of Melbourne uses 10,000 tonnes of asphalt and collects 11,000 tonnes of residential recycling each year.

“The trial will allow us to assess whether we can use more recycled materials and plastic when we resurface our roads,” Mr. Wood said.

The trial is a joint initiative from the City of Melbourne, its subsidiary Citywide, and the Citywide North Melbourne Asphalt Plant using plastic waste sourced from metropolitan Melbourne.

“The City of Melbourne uses 10,000 tonnes of asphalt annually and we resurfaced eight kilometres of road last year. This trial will help us understand whether it’s possible to use recycled plastic in more of our major projects,” Mr. Wood said.

“This is an example of how we can work towards building a circular economy. By using recycled plastic and other recycled materials on our roads we’re creating more sustainable infrastructure and showing there are local markets for recycled materials.”