Ditecpesa, a division of Ferrovial, and the Cicloplast association have joined together in a research project whose goal is to utilize recycled plastics in bitumens for use on roads.
Cicloplast, which is comprised of all the companies in Spain’s plastics sector, is promoting the recycling of plastics from any of their applications at the end of their useful lives: packaging, agriculture, construction, etc.
Currently in Spain about 300,000 tons of plastic are recycled, reused in such diverse fields as urban furnishings, plastic pipes for construction, athletic clothing and garbage bags.
Some of these applications have limited growth prospects. Today almost all garbage bags already come from recycled plastic. Other uses, such as plastic pipes, have suffered from reduced demand thanks to the crisis in the construction sector.
In its search for new applications, Cicloplast has allied itself with the Ferrovial Group, whose Ditecpesa division has been researching, developing and manufacturing all types of bitumens modified with polymers and emulsions since 1988.
The use of plastic in asphalt mixes will increase their endurance and useful life, by limiting deformations and oxidation. Ditecpesa experts proved this in a pilot project, in which close to 2,000 tons of plastic from garbage dumps in the province of Almería were used to resurface a stretch of divided highway.