Council & Business
20 July, 2023
Concrete solution for transfer station
Failing pavement at the Carisbrook Transfer Station has been replaced with new concrete containing more than one third recycled content. The Central Goldfields Shire Council was awarded $70,000 from Sustainability Victoria towards the $140,000...
Failing pavement at the Carisbrook Transfer Station has been replaced with new concrete containing more than one third recycled content.
The Central Goldfields Shire Council was awarded $70,000 from Sustainability Victoria towards the $140,000 project and utilised the opportunity to include a significant volume of recycled content in the reinforced concrete.
Concrete supplier Hanson worked to develop the product and after extensive lab and field testing, the new pavement was made with 34 percent recycled content, including 14 percent glass.
Of the 487 tonnes of concrete used in the project, 68 tonnes were recycled glass — the equivalent of 53,000 glass bottles.
Council’s strategic waste officer Louise Turner said the project was about exploring how waste and recycled goods could be used.
“Working with Sustainability Victoria on this particular project was just awesome, they were so considerate in terms of resource constraints,” she said.
“We really wanted to use local contractors, we didn’t want to just get someone in from the city because we want locals to use it and give us honest feedback.”
The new pavement has an expected life of 40 years and on the surface, looks no different to traditional concrete.
Council employee and Sustainability Victoria buy recycled champion Josie Bell said the project was an example of how recycled goods could be further used locally.
“If we can encourage a circular economy and reduce waste it helps everybody help the environment, there’s a lot of buying power for councils regionally and in metropolitan areas,” she said.
“This is a great initiative and example of that.”
Mayor Grace La Vella said the success of the hybrid concrete was a local success story.
“We are thrilled with the outcome of the recycled glass concrete pavement, and it has certainly sparked interest within council and our local business community — demonstrating that recycled content can be sourced locally and used locally,” she said.
“Council considers the development of pathways for future use of local products such as glass as an important step towards growing a local circular economy here in the Central Goldfields.”