In a first for Victoria’s Big Build, used coffee grounds from cafes across Melbourne’s north are being used to conserve and improve topsoil quality thanks to the Childs Road Upgrade, powering our growing circular economy.
Used coffee grounds equivalent to just over a quarter of a million lattes will be composted into the road project as the Childs Road Upgrade supports this new and innovative process to divert food waste from landfill – totalling almost 9.5 tonnes.
The 60 cubic metres of coffee grinds will be mixed with topsoil during landscaping – boosting nutrient levels within soil to give freshly planted seeds and seedlings the best opportunity to thrive. It will nurture the soil and create greener landscaping around upgraded sections of road and shared user paths. On their own, coffee grounds are too acidic to be used straight, but once mixed with other organic matter such as topsoil, they make a fantastic compost mix. They feed the soil with their high levels of carbon content, potassium and nitrogen.
As part of the road upgrade, more than 160 trees and 27,500 shrubs will be planted at the site as the project powers towards completion.
This is the first time used coffee grounds are being used on a major infrastructure project in Victoria, with the Childs Road Upgrade project exemplifying the principles of the Recycled First policy.
Reground has sourced the grounds for the project from local cafes, including:
- Tyler's Milk Bar, Reservoir
- Cafe Colores, Reservoir
- Drip Drop, Pascoe Vale
- Bagels Baby, Pascoe Vale
- Genovese, Coburg
- Poppy Café, Pascoe Vale
The Childs Road Upgrade is kicking even more goals when it comes to sustainability, with the project team running machinery on biodiesel, using energy efficient temporary street lighting and installing low carbon concrete. The project is on track to divert 90 per cent of construction and demolition waste from landfill. The team’s sustainable practices mean the majority of construction waste is being taken to recycling facilities where it is processed to produce new products and materials.
The project has also used more than 6 tonnes of eMesh, an Australian-made product comprised of 100 per cent recycled plastic, which replaces traditional steel mesh and non-recycled plastic fibres to reduce plastic waste that ends up in landfill. The material - manufactured by Fibrecon in Ballarat - is more sustainable, safer and cost-effective steel reinforcement, as it requires less effort handling and cutting, and has gone into building hundreds of metres of shared walking and cycling path that run along Childs Road.
Workers have also installed 470m of environmentally friendly recycled pipes which will be part of drainage around the new road being built either side of the Darebin Creek bridges - a perfect engineering solution because their rigidness makes them ideal for use in clay conditions on large infrastructure projects. In total, around 150,000 2L plastic milk bottles will be used to make the 83 pipes.
The Childs Road Upgrade is due to be complete by the end of 2022. The project is jointly funded by the Australian and Victorian governments.
ecologic Greener Infrastructure Conference
The future is green. The Victorian State Government is leading the charge to change the face of infrastructure delivery, building greener roads and rail, minimising waste and reducing carbon emissions across the construction sector.
To be part of the positive change, tickets are now available for the inaugural ecologiQ Greener Infrastructure Conference to be held from September 6-7 at the Melbourne Convention Centre, bringing together sector leaders to discuss innovation and adoption of the use of recycled materials in transport infrastructure projects and the broader construction sector.