Council paves the way for sustainable roads

Penrith Council is always looking for ways to be more sustainable, including through its recent trial of “glassphalt”, a new and environmentally sustainable material for road surfaces.

Produced by local company State Ashphalt Services at St Marys, glassphalt uses ground recycled glass in the paving mix instead of sand – reducing the cost of the material and reducing landfill.

Penrith Council General Manager Warwick Winn said the trial of glassphalt on Stafford Street is indicative of Council’s commitment to adopting more sustainable practices whenever possible.

“Council’s tendered road service contractor, the St Marys based State Ashpalt Services, recently upgraded its plant to make glassphalt,” Mr Winn said.

“In an average year, Council resurfaces or reconstructs around 30 km of roads. By increasing the use of glassphalt rather than asphalt, we will be doing a lot to reduce the amount of waste glass in landfill,” he said.

Glassphalt meets current standards for road base material.

In this trial we saw 50 tonnes of ground glass, the equivalent of 227,200 stubbies, used Penrith Mayor, Ross Fowler OAM said: “Glass up to 2,500 years old has been found in archaeological digs around the world – it does not break down in the environment.”

“This not only shows that glass in landfill never goes away, but also indicates just how durable it is as a road base,” Cr Fowler said.

You can read more about the Stafford Street glassphalt trial.

FACTS ABOUT GLASS RECYCLING

• Glass is 100% recyclable and can be recycled endlessly without loss in quality or purity.
• Glass is made from readily available materials including sand, soda ash, limestone and “cullet” – or furnace-ready recycled glass.
• Recycled glass can be substituted for up to 95% of raw materials.
• Manufacturers benefit from recycling in several ways: recycled glass reduces emissions and consumption of raw materials, extends the life of plant equipment, such as furnaces, and saves energy.
• Recycled glass is always part of the recipe for glass, and the more that is used, the greater the decrease in energy used in the furnace. This makes using recycled glass profitable in the long run, lowering costs for glass container manufacturers and benefiting the environment.
• Recycled glass containers are always needed because glass manufacturers require high-quality recycled container glass to meet market demands for new glass containers.
• Glass containers for food and beverages are 100% recyclable, but not with other types of glass such as window panes.

Image: Penrith Mayor Ross Fowler OAM, Penrith Council General Manager Warwick Winn and Director of City Services Brian Steffen at Stafford Street, Penrith where glassphalt has been laid.