ARRB, Brimbank working towards fully recycled roads

Empty cider green bottles — Trial sections include up to 10 per cent recycled glass.

The Australian Road Research Board (ARRB) is working with Brimbank Council on a project involving more recycled glass in roads.

ARRB is working with the council to monitor trials of finely crushed recycled glass in asphalt on two residential streets in Deer Park.

The trial areas include up to 10 per cent recycled glass and 25 per cent recycled asphalt. This makes Brimbank the first local government area to incorporate this much glass into the surface of its roads.

Jasmine Nguyen, Brimbank Mayor, said the project was paving the way to 100 per cent recycled roads, which could reduce costs and waste for all local governments.

“By testing and monitoring the innovative asphalt over the next two years, Brimbank can assist in the development of a new standard surface that incorporates more recycled materials, to be implemented in all future local government roads,” she said.

The trial area is broken up into six sections across 800 metres of road in Newbury Street and Gould Street in Deer Park. The council is working with ARRB to monitor and test the performance of the road surface over the next two years.

James Grenfell, ARRB Sustainability Principal Professional, said the trial included multiple suppliers of recycled glass materials, and involved glass-free control sections for comparison.

“It’s expected the recycled crushed glass mixes will perform just as well as the control mixtures,” he said. “That will give us confidence moving forward that we can utilise recycled crushed glass in the road surface for local government both in rehabilitation and for re-sheeting purposes.”

Brimbank Council will also advocate to the Victorian Department of Transport for the creation of new technical standards for the increased use of recycled materials in roads in all local government areas. The current VicRoads standards allow for up to five per cent recycled crushed glass in roads.

The project is co-funded by Brimbank City Council, ARRB, Sustainability Victoria, and the Department of Transport.

The council has also partnered with ARRB, Fulton Hogan, Alex Fraser and Downer to develop the commercialisation of the new asphalt product.

For more information, visit: www.arrb.com.au