UK entrepreneur develops longer-lasting road surface using recycled plastic

[Becky]

Toby McCartney, an engineer based in Scotland, has developed a new type of road surface using recycled plastic. It is 60 per cent stronger than regular asphalt, lasts 10 times as long, is cheaper, and is better for the environment.

Our city roads require a lot of maintenance over time as weather deteriorates them and potholes open up. Meanwhile there are around five trillion pieces of plastic in the ocean. McCartney came up with an answer to both issues. He turns 100 percent recycled plastic into what he calls MR6 pellets, or small pellets of waste plastic, which replace bitumen, the material used to bind roads together (extracted from crude oil) and sold by oil companies like Shell.

Read more here.

 

[nivrip]

Wow ! That's a great idea.

What with this and the recent announcement of waxworms "eating" plastics it sounds as if we are finally getting to grips with the huge amounts of plastic on this earth.

 

[nivrip]

For anyone who didn't see the article about the waxworms it's HERE

 

[bootneck02]

Read about this on Facebook, seems to be a great Idea and cheaper

 

[Ian]

What with this and the recent announcement of waxworms "eating" plastics it sounds as if we are finally getting to grips with the huge amounts of plastic on this earth.

I have an awful vision of roads being eaten up by rogue waxworms .

Pretty cool that a biologist discovered that effect by accident - and nice that we're able to do something about the huge amount of mess we're accumulating!

 

[nivrip]

I have an awful vision of roads being eaten up by rogue waxworms .

Yes, and, of course, water and gas pipes are now made of plastic.