Australian Capital Territory Roads Minister, Chris Steel, has announced a trial of a material composed of recycled glass and soft plastics as part of the state government’s annual road resurfacing program in October.

Plastiphalt – a material composed of recycled glass and soft plastics – will be trialled on existing sections of Horse Park Drive and Gundaroo Drive during the ACT Government’s $16 million 2018-19 road resurfacing program.

“For every tonne of Plastiphalt placed, the equivalent of 800 plastic bags, 252 glass bottles and 18 used printer toner cartridges will not find their way to landfills,” said Steel.

Three-hundred kilograms of recycled asphalt is also used for every tonne of the material.

The 2018-19 resurfacing program will see approximately 230 lane kilometres, or approximately 1,000,000 square metres of roads resurfaced, across the ACT road network.

“The resealing program is an important part of the maintenance of Canberra’s roads as it covers small cracks and imperfections which could cause potholes and overall deterioration,” said Steel. “It protects and extends the life of our roads and improves road safety.”

The program of works is expected to be completed by April next year.