Approximately 1600 tonnes of glass a year is discarded into residential recycling bins in Brimbank City Council. The high-quality glass component from this waste stream is now being reclaimed and going into our roads.
Brimbank City Council, in partnership with the Australian Road Research Board (ARRB) and Sustainability Victoria (SV) is using recycled crushed glass as a partial replacement for natural sand as part of the wearing course asphalt on roads being rehabilitated within the municipality. Four different asphalt mixes, from multiple asphalt suppliers, will be placed as part of this trial. Although a small component of crushed glass has been used as a supplementary material in asphalt for several years, this is the first time in Australia its use will be independently monitored against control mixtures post-construction.
Reusing lower quality crushed recycled glass as a material for road construction has been identified as purposeful considering its similar properties to the virgin fine aggregates which are traditionally used. Previous small-scale trials involving asphalt containing recycled crushed glass have demonstrated that such mixes are viable alternatives to traditional asphalt, provided the glass is crushed to a suitably fine particle size.
Recovering a valuable resource such as glass and giving it a second life also reduces the amount of material required to be sent to landfill. This is in line with Council’s efforts to find workable options for recyclables and forms a sustainable waste economy and local industry based on alternative and advanced waste and resource recovery.
It is anticipated this trial will lead to increased uptake of glass in wearing course asphalt by Local Governments as well as provide the data to support a change in VicDoT specifications to allow for glass in wearing course asphalt.