The City of Greater Geelong has increased its use of recycled materials through a number of clever and creative projects and trials, which find new ways of using waste as a resource.
The Annual Report 2019-2020 shows the organisation used 8,745 tonnes of recycled asphalt materials to build and renew roads, footpaths and street furniture during 2019-2020 and recycled nearly 6,548 tonnes of concrete.
This is a significant increase on the annual baseline expectation of 8,000 tonnes of asphalt recycled inhouse and 3,000 tonnes of recycled concrete.
The equivalent of 3,500 kilograms worth of plastic was saved from going into landfill through a trial of PlastiPhalt, a new form of durable asphalt made from recycled plastics.
The microplastic-free asphalt was used on 1,100 metres of road onRoslyn Road in Highton, Moorabool Street in Geelong and Purnell Road in Corioearlier this year.
The City assesses every project during the design phase to identify opportunities to use recycled materials during construction and include items such as recycled plastic bollards and benches. Highlights during 2019-2020 include:
- green concrete, which includes waste materials, was used during the construction of the Bella Wiyn Birralee Family Centre in Drysdale and Korayn Birralee Family Centre in Corio, which opened to the public this year
- a recycled rubber athletics track was unveiled late last year at Goldsworthy Reserve in Geelong's north and
- seawall concrete blocks from Eastern Beach were reused at the Western Beach Park last year.
In May this year, a tender was awarded to five businesses to provide asphalt products using innovative recycling methods.
The successful tenderers are currently researching the use of foam bitumen containing recycled road pavements and asphalt, and GripPhalt, which uses up to 90 per cent of recycled and renewable material. One business has committed to trialling glass in base layers of pavements in Greater Geelong.
The City has also submitted grant applications to support the use of crumb rubber mix and recycled asphalt pavement to pave roads.
The Waste and Resource Recovery Strategy 2020-2030 was adopted in April this year, which guides the City on how it can contribute to a circular economy.
Guy Wilson-Browne - Director City Services
The City is constantly investigating new and innovative ways to avoid waste and use recycled products and materials in projects, reflecting goals from the community's clever and creative vision for the region.
We aim to be a leader in this very important space by setting high environmental standards for projects and sustainable solutions.
