The City of Angels, USA, is working with a startup called TechniSoil Industrial, to repave one of its downtown roads using a mixture of recycled plastic and existing asphalt — and the process could cut down on the environmental impact of construction while also producing a road that lasts up to 13 times longer than usual.
Instead of using a mix of sticky bitumen and bits of rocks, sand, and gravel, TechniSoil’s uses recycled polyethylene terephthalate, a strong material often used to make plastic soda and water bottles.
The asphalt mixture isn’t the only thing different about TechniSoil’s method, either.
Instead of hauling away the old asphalt and bringing in new material, the company uses a machine called a “recycling train” to grind up the old asphalt, mix it with the liquid plastic, and then lay the material down to form the new road all at once — cutting down on transportation emissions.
Reference- Futurism, TechniSoil website, The Washington Post