In the fight against climate change (which again this year we have fought really badly) no action is too small or unimportant. And after the experience of plastic road in Holland, now it's getting serious.
The latest initiative comes from South Africa: plans are stepped up to build sidewalks made entirely of recycled plastic from used bottles.
The great recycling
Shisalanga Construction, the company that will take care of this repaving, already has a small experience. He redesigned more than 400 meters of road in Cliffdale, on the outskirts of Durban, using this special asphalt. To do this, almost 40.000 two-liter plastic milk bottles were recycled.
Recycled plastic milk bottles? Better than asphalt
The company uses high-density polyethylene (HDPE), a special type of plastic usually found in milk bottles. This plastic is transformed into pellets in a local recycling plant.
Each ton of "asphalt" made from recycled plastic contains approximately 118 to 128 bottles. And to the Shisalanga Construction They say the production process produces less toxic emissions than conventional methods. Can we believe it?
And that's not all: a more durable and water-resistant asphalt comes out of recycled plastic. The material is able to withstand temperatures up to 70 degrees Celsius and up to 22 degrees below zero.
High performance, garbage away from the world
Even if the cost of production is the same as the previous methods, the roads built in plastic asphalt allow to recycle this damned matter and should last longer, saving money for the city.
The KZN Department of Transportation, the body responsible for commissioning the plastics project, appears to be impressed with the results.
Ducasse kit, control technician at the KZN Department of Transportation, told CNN: "It works really well. Time will give us further confirmation, but what I have seen is already great news".
The department commissioned a viaduct to further test the material. And in the meantime, Shisalanga has contacted the National Roads Agency (SANRAL) of South Africa to lay an additional 200 tons of recycled plastic asphalt on the country's main highway, the N3.
