Building a sustainable Craigieburn Road

Work has wrapped up on the first section of road, as part of the Craigieburn Road Upgrade, to be resurfaced with asphalt containing recycled materials.

Just over a 1-kilometre section of road at the Mickleham Road and Craigieburn Road intersection has been upgraded using more than 3 and a half thousand tonnes of Reconophalt™, a form of asphalt containing a binder made from soft plastics and ink toner residue as well as glass and recycled asphalt.

Around 800,000 plastic bag equivalents, 250,000 crushed glass bottles not suitable for re-manufacture, and more than 18,000 old toner cartridges were used for this section of road in and around the intersection.

It’s the first time Reconophalt™ has been laid on the Craigieburn Road Upgrade, demonstrating the Victorian Government’s Recycled First Policy in action, having successfully been used on our past projects, such as the M80 Upgrade and Western Roads Upgrade.

The Reconophalt™ is being supplied and laid by Australian company Downer, with the cost being competitive with traditional forms of asphalt. Reconophalt™ contains recycled materials that would otherwise end up in landfill.

It has considerable sustainability and performance benefits, such as

• greater durability over time
• reduced energy use
• lower cost
• recycling capability at the end of its useful life.

The stability and strength of asphalt is better than traditional forms of asphalt, increasing the rutting resistance, reducing cracking and extending fatigue life by 65%.

There are plans for Reconophalt™ to be used extensively along the project alignment in coming months. The Craigieburn Road Upgrade team’s sustainable practices mean most construction waste is being taken to recycling facilities where it is processed to produce new products and materials.

Along with our construction partners and supported by ecologiQ, we're committed to identifying ways to use more recycled materials across all major road upgrades, in line with the Victorian Government’s Recycled First Policy. The policy, being delivered by ecologiQ, requires contractors on road and rail projects to optimise the use of recycled and reused content.

Recycled First is being implemented across future Victorian Big Build projects as well as Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) projects from 2022.

ecologiQ Greener Infrastructure Conference

The inaugural ecologiQ Greener Infrastructure Conference will be held on 6-7 September at the Melbourne Convention Centre. The conference is a vitally important event that will bring together all sections of the industry to enable conversation and action towards increasing the use of recycled materials in transport infrastructure projects and the broader construction sector.

Read more and register for the ecologiQ Greener Infrastructure Conference.

Find out more about what's happening on the Craigieburn Road Upgrade.