Australia’s first 100% recycled silt sock is being trialled on the Parkdale Level Crossing Removal Project.
Silt socks are fabric mesh sleeves filled with rocks and gravel that are placed around stormwater drains and gutters as a sediment and erosion control method. Silt socks prevent silt and sediment from leaving worksites during heavy rain, protecting waterways.
Typical silt socks are made from new material and filled with new gravel, but by teaming up with Stratex, Assembled Threads, and Cacti Conserve we are giving the banner mesh signage used around our sites a new life. We are also using up-cycled filler in the socks, which includes crushed bricks from construction sites.
This collaboration extends beyond reducing our project’s environmental impact, it is also a social initiative helping to transform lives. Assembled Threads, a social enterprise, leads the manufacturing process, providing training and employment opportunities for women from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities.
The first 2 months of this project alone, have provided Assembled Threads with the opportunity to deliver 112 hours of training and work, transforming waste management into a social impact initiative empowering disadvantaged individuals.
We estimate that each silt sock delivers the following benefits:
- Diverts 0.15 kg of banner mesh and 12 kg of recycled washed aggregate from landfill.
- Provides 0.5 hours of employment to CALD women.
- Contributes $1.68 to local Australian conservation projects.
With Cacti Conserve, another social enterprise committed to sustainable solutions and reducing waste in the community, the silt socks are now being used across multiple Victorian construction sites.
Want to see one of the silt socks in action? Head down to our Parkdale site and scope out the stormwater grates, you’ll see them all around.
