Resources & recycling
One of our priorities is to maximise the level of recycled products used during road maintenance and construction, while still maintaining the quality of the roads we construct.
Sustainability in Procurement
We have developed Sustainable Procurement Guidelines [PDF 2.8 Mb] to promote the uptake of recycled materials or those materials with a reduced eco-footprint, such as water, waste, energy and greenhouse and/or reduced production of hazardous chemicals.
We have implemented the use of sustainable procurement to ensure value for money is achieved for specific sustainability outcomes. Sustainability attributes, where suitable are valued for pavement options as well as other sustainability options such as:
- use of drainage infrastructure with lower environmental footprint
- use of renewable energy options such as solar or wind
- operational energy initiatives such as LED lighting, or power regulating devices that improve the efficiency of the lighting
- use of geopolymer concrete.
Find out more about the
sustainable procurement process
Sustainable materials
We already support the use of recycled materials in the construction and maintenance of the road network. This includes recycled asphalt product, the recycling of crushed rock and concrete, crushed brick and recycled rubber in road sealing. The inclusion of these materials is largely guided by our Specifications and Mix Registration processes.
Currently, we use a number of recycled materials or more sustainable options. These include but are not limited to:
- reclaimed asphalt from road works for use in pavement mixes
- using crushed waste construction materials such as brick and concrete as an alternative to aggregate in pavement construction
- utilising alternative binder components such as pine oil which provides greenhouse benefits
- use of warm mix asphalt
- using recycled glass fines as a replacement for sand in some pavement mixes and drainage applications
- using recycled plastic road furniture such as bollards and roadside markers
- using recycled plastic or geopolymer concrete pipes instead of concrete pipes for longitudinal drainage
- use of supplementary cementitious materials such as flyash or blast furnance slag in cement production.
The supply of raw material for use in construction, including road construction is seen as a finite resource. Going forward, this resource will diminish in its quality and availability and as a result will increase in cost. Therefore the inclusion of recycled materials is likely to increase rapidly as technology and acceptance becomes more widespread.