Hume City Council and Downer are set to build a new road in Melbourne using plastic bags and packaging as part of an initiative stated to be the first trial project of its kind in Australia.

Both entities have partnered with resource recovery and recycling companies Close the Loop and RED Group for this project to build a road around Rayfield Avenue in Craigieburn, situated in the north of Melbourne.

Soft plastics comprising nearly 200,000 plastic bags and packaging, as well as the equivalent of 63,000 glass bottles will be procured from landfills for this project.

“The road will have a 65% improvement in fatigue life and will have a better resistance compared to conventional roads, enabling it to serve heavy vehicle traffic.”

Downer Road Services executive general manager Dante Cremasco said: “Together with our customer Hume City Council and our partners, we have proven that with thought, leadership, and a determined effort to make a positive difference, we have set a new benchmark in our industry when it comes to sustainability by creating new avenues to recycle and repurpose waste materials into new streams of use.”

He also added that the road will have a 65% improvement in fatigue life and will have a better resistance compared to conventional roads, enabling it to serve heavy vehicle traffic.

Hume Mayor Geoff Porter said: “Hume City Council is very proud to be home to Australia’s first road, which sees soft plastics and glass diverted from landfills and repurposed to create local roads.

“We look forward to monitoring the trial of this recycled asphalt and how the new surface performs over time.”

The project will create 250 tonnes of asphalt using toner procured from more than 4,500 used printer cartridges and 50 tonnes of recycled asphalt.

Downer will be working with Close the Loop and RED Group to process the soft plastics to make them suitable for road construction.