PlasticRoad receives a EUR 700,000 grant to prepare for industrial production
Following its successful deployments of two plastic bike paths in the Netherlands, PlasticRoad.eu has received a €700,000 funding grant to begin work on a large scale plastic road project. Consultation and construction will begin in the first quarter or 2021 in Hardenberg and will include a bike path, parking lot, railway platform and sidewalk
Constructed entirely from recycled plastic bottles, the cycle paths in the Province of Overijssel and the municipality of Steenwijkerland have yielded such positive results since opening 18 months ago.
Strong and robust
Fitted during installation, both test roads in Zwolle and Giethoorn have sensors that enable 24/7 monitoring of the paths use and ‘behaviour’. In May 2020, it recorded its 1 millionth cyclist.
And data collected from the sensors has proven that the PlasticRoad can handle increased heavy traffic. Practical tests it shows it can cope with heavy vehicles such as refuse trucks and maintenance vehicles without issues. Yet, the organisation hasn’t stopped innovation there. With design improvements the new version will be more rugged and 2.5 stronger that used in the original cycle paths.
Tackling climate change issues
Governments worldwide are struggling to cope with issues of climate change. Subsidence and flooding causes regular road infrastructure issues, which ultimately results in increased costs for local authorities. These issues can be reduced or resolved with innovative road construction like PlasticRoad. In addition, PlasticRoad helps in the reduction of harmful carbon emissions and the excess plastic waste issues.
Carbon-saving and climate-adaptive
The key criteria for eligibility for funding under the DEI+ scheme, is a significant reduction in carbon emissions. With carbon savings of 52% to 72% compared to conventional road paving the PlasticRoad amply fulfils this requirement with ease.
“At PlasticRoad, our objective is to develop the most sustainable infrastructure in the world”, Anne Koudstaal, inventor and director of product at PlasticRoad says. “A low carbon footprint is one of the main priorities in our product development process. The grant from the Ministry of Economic Affairs enables us to upscale and fully prepare our product for industrial production. In addition, this funding serves as independent confirmation of PlasticRoad’s contribution to the circular economy and its strong potential in terms of carbon savings.” Consequently we are delighted with this allocation.”
Click here to find out about how using plastic is being used to fill potholes in the UK.