Make Way For These Environment-friendly Roads Made of Recycled Plastic and Solar Panels

The Recycled Road of Rotterdam

We sure have a big problem with our plastic wastes. Although efforts on recycling and reducing these wastes have been pushed, somehow using plastic products is an inevitable reality. As for building roads, we have depleting supplies of the materials used for road-building and repairs. Not to mention that concrete and asphalt degrade over the years and needs to be reconstructed, refilled or renovated every 5 years or so.

Good thing that Anne Koudstaal and Simon Jorritsma of KWS Netherlands, the largest road-builder company in the country thought of an innovative way to replace asphalt blacktop roads with plastic. With this proposed recycled road made of plastic, the problem of plastic garbage and perpetual repairs are eliminated.

Koudstaal and Jorritsma of KWS Netherlands with their prototype concept of the Plastic Road.

The many good poins of having a recycled plastic road is that it is far more lighter than asphalt. Plastic can also be reinforced to withstand greater weights of cars and trucks. The plastic roads will also be waterproof and a hollow water reservoir or drainage underneath it is incorporated in the design to eliminate flooded roads. And one of the best parts is that we minimize our plastic wastes, and at the same time save on repairs. Since plastics don’t degrade at all that much, plastic roads can withstand for as much as 50 years without any repairs at all. The aesthetic quality of having colored roads other than the boring black asphalt is just an added bonus in my opinion.

A closer look at the concept of building the plastic road, with support beams underneath and flood reservoir.

As of now, the plastic road model is still being put into reality. A prototype is being built right now and the site will be in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The team is looking at completing a prototype within 2 to 3 years time.

The full concept of how the plastic road is supposed to look like

Amazing isn’t it? We sure hope both the SolaRoad and Plastic Road can pave the way for more eco-friendly roads and contribute to the solution of some of our most pressing and pertinent environmental issues. Visit this site for more info on the SolaRoad.

Did you like this story? Share your thoughts and share this story to your friends too.