A Dutch city will be the first city for the launch of the "PlasticRoad” initiative, a concept involving roads made of recycled plastics.
The municipality of Zwolle and the province of Overijssel announced 7 June that they had committed to the first PlasticRoad pilot project.
As part of the project, the first PlasticRoad will be constructed in Zwolle in September, while another will be built in the same province “a few months later”.
The PlasticRoad concept was launched in 2015 by market leader in road construction KWS – a subsidiary of Royal VolkerWessels.
In 2016, KWS entered into a partnership with Wavin and Total for the further development of the PlasticRoad.
The first two pilot projects will be realised in the form of 30-metre long bicycle paths made of hollow prefabricated elements enabling water drainage and laying down of cables and pipes.
The exact final locations of the roads are yet to be decided.
Some of the work done on the project includes the development and testing of the concept to validate and optimise performance, such as the load bearing capacity of the modular elements, the appropriate blends of recycled plastic and the 3D design of the road itself.
In addition, research focused on the reduced environmental impact has been carried out.