Engineer Propose Using Recycled Plastics To Repair Roads

Right now, the world has over 24.8 million miles of concrete roads, all of which needs repair and maintenance. Usually, this is done with the use of oil, which is not exactly the most environmentally safe option. An engineer believes that he has the solution by proposing to use recycled plastic instead to fix the roads.

The engineer in question is Toby McCartney and he has a startup in Scotland called MacRebur, Inhabitat reports. The company is in the business of laying out roads in the UK, but their offer is up to 60 percent stronger and will last up to 10 times longer than conventional concrete or asphalt roads. What’s more, the startup is using recycled plastic in order to make and maintain them.

BBC recently featured McCartney’s revolutionary method of fixing one of the biggest problems in the modern world, citing how he got his inspiration to create such an option because of his daughter. The little girl supposedly answered “Plastic” on a school work where the teacher asked what lived in the ocean. McCartney was struck by the thought and wanted to help create a future where his children didn’t have to live in a world where plastic is part of the ocean.

By creating this method of building and maintaining roads, the engineer basically kills two birds with one stone. It helps to strengthen one of the most essential constructs in the modern world and addresses one of the biggest components of the garbage crisis.

Plastic has become a significant pollutant to the planet, after all. Countless examples of wildlife dying due to swallowing plastic bottles or getting entangled by plastic nets or cup carriers have made this clear enough.

The process basically involves replacing the substance bitumen, which is extracted from oil and is commonly mixed with asphalt, with plastic pellets. Thanks to the overflowing landfills, junkyards, and ocean floors, there’s no shortage of materials, Futurism reports. This won’t solve the problem of plastics entirely, but it will go a long way towards minimizing the damage it causes.