Road construction uses significant amounts of natural resources. Many such as gravel, aggregate, crushed rock and sand, have recycled alternatives. The use of recycled materials conserves natural resources and can offset environmental impacts such as greenhouse gas emissions.
We try to reuse and recycle. Recycled materials are used in road construction if they meet our performance criteria. Some of our recycling initiatives include:
- reusing soil from construction sites to avoid importing or exporting soil
- using recycled water in road construction and maintenance
- using recycled plastic for guideposts along roadsides
- reclaiming asphalt and waste concrete from roadworks for use in pavement mixes
- using crushed waste constructing materials such as brick and concrete as an alternative to aggregate in pavement construction
- using recycled plastic pipes instead of concrete pipes for longitudinal drainage
- using recycled glass fines as a replacement for sand in some pavement mixes and drainage applications.
Recycled materials are also a component of the VicRoads Sustainability Rating Tool (INVEST), and are also captured within the VicRoads Greenhouse Calculator for assessing the whole of life greenhouse footprint of road construction projects.
We are trialling new concrete and asphalt products. Warm Asphalt Mix, Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) and eco-friendly concrete create less greenhouse emissions during manufacture. Currently the use of concrete and asphalt products represents over 70% of the energy associated with road construction.