Building greener roads for Kingston

August 8, 2018

15 Kingston streets have been given a new lease of life using quality materials recycled from residents’ wheelie bins.

Kingston City Council engaged Alex Fraser to repair and repave roads throughout Clayton South, Waterways, Mordialloc, Braeside and Moorabbin using Green Roads construction materials.

Kingston CEO John Nevins said Council’s key priority was ensuring all the contents of the community’s recycling bins were being sent for recycling.

“Kingston residents can continue to sort their recycling with confidence, knowing they are helping to avoid landfill and create new recycled products,” Mr Nevins said.

A significant proportion of the materials used to complete the works was locally sourced and recycled – amounting to 3750 wheelie bins full of waste. Alex Fraser collects glass that cannot normally be recycled and converts it into high quality road building products. The products replace quarried materials which are increasingly difficult to source. The amount of recycled glass sand incorporated into the asphalt was equivalent to 105,000 glass bottles.

Alex Fraser Managing Director Peter Murphy said finding markets for recycled products was the key to solving the current recycling problems in Australia.

Green Roads crew transporting recycled materials used to repair and repave the city of Kingston.

“If local governments want people to keep recycling, they have to also be involved in the market for recycled products. This project is an excellent illustration of how local councils can proactively support their own kerbside recycling program and achieve high-quality assets for their community at competitive cost.

“Alex Fraser paving crews are well known for quality workmanship, and our recycled products reduce the carbon footprint of new infrastructure,” said Mr Murphy.

Alex Fraser has been part of the Kingston community for more than a decade; responsible for recycling around one million tonnes of locally sourced waste, each year – that’s enough to overflow the MCG. Our Clarinda recycling facility has produced more than 5.4 million tonnes of sustainable construction material; used to develop greener infrastructure throughout Kingston and the south-west, including the Dingley Bypass and East Link.

Councils and asset owners who choose to use Green Roads materials can reduce the carbon footprint of their projects by 65 per cent. Due to the unique density savings they can markedly reduce the cost of projects as well as the number of trucks required to deliver materials, decreasing traffic associated with development.

“By actively supporting local recycling, Kingston council has redeveloped its roads to the highest specification at a very competitive cost while supporting kerbside collection programs,” Mr Murphy said.

The high quality works were completed on June 30, in accordance with VicRoads 407 specifications.

By choosing Green Roads materials Kingston City Council reduced:

• landfill by 300 tonnes
• carbon emissions by 2,807 kilograms
• extraction of natural resources by 327 tonnes

For more information on recycling and green roads throughout Victoria and Queensland visit our projects scetion.