Recycled materials are being incorporated on Victoria’s North East Link project to minimise environmental impacts and reduce the need for concrete
Victoria’s North East Link road project has introduced a hot of sustainable practices to reduce environmental impacts and keep waste out of landfill.
One of these practices is the ‘Recycled First’ policy, which aims to optimise the use of recycled and reused materials in the construction and maintenance of infrastructure assets.
The scale of the M80 Ring Road Completion on the North East Link has allowed the project to partner with local businesses and suppliers to stay at the forefront of recycling and sustainability initiatives.
“Part of what we do here is to support the Recycled First Policy across major infrastructure projects so that we can reduce our material impacts on the environment and reuse and repurpose materials rather than sending them to landfill,” M80 Ring Road Completion sustainability advisor Amy Reader says.
“We have a shared commitment to diverting waste from landfill and really looking for opportunities to reuse and recycle materials as much as possible.”
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Across the project, recycled materials are being incorporated in smart and practical ways, with cardboard waste being recycled into temporary site hoarding, recycled plastic bottles are being used in bridge decks, and recycled plastics are incorporated into precast panels, reducing the need for concrete.
Managing soil reuse is another key focus. When large volumes of soil are excavated from one part of the project, teams are looking for ways to reuse it elsewhere – either within the project, at nearby Big Build projects, or to help rehabilitate local quarries.
Local companies like Repurpose It are also playing a big role, with old road surfaces being crushed, screened, treated and returned to site for use in new construction works, helping to create a closed-loop system.
“When the project brings us material like concrete and asphalt, we crush, screen and then use our blending plant onsite to recombine it into VicRoads-spec materials that we can bring back to site,” Repurpose It spokesperson Thomas Anton says.
“The great thing about these materials is that they’re recycled and sustainable.”