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high as 80 ° C . The company says that this hardiness will make the roads ’ lifespans three times as long as typical asphalt roads . According to the company , any type of recycled plastic can be used . The main goal , the company says , is to keep plastic out of the oceans . The concept for plastic roads came after the company looked at all the different road-related problems that cities face , said Simon Jorritsma from InfraLinq , a subdivision of VolkerWessels and KWS Infra that works specifically with asphalt . Those problems included a future where oil ( the main component of asphalt ) is less available , as well as more immediate problems like flooding and road maintenance . “ For contractors , asphalt is a great and sound product to build roads ,” Jorritsma says . “ However , contractors have to meet more and more demands concerning noise reduction , water permeability , and flatness . These questions and conditions were the inspiration that have led to the idea of the ‘ PlasticRoad ’.” The company is also hoping to avoid some carbon dioxide emissions by switching asphalt roads to plastic ones . The carbon footprint of asphalt totals 1.6-million tons of carbon dioxide per year , the company says , so using recycled plastic instead could help cut down on some of those emissions . Jorritsma said that using plastic instead of asphalt would cut down on the carbon dioxide required to produce , transport , and process asphalt and , he says , because plastic roads are predicted to last longer than traditional roads , the CO 2 associated with regularly replacing the surfaces will also be saved . The concept is still in the idea phase — no plastic roads are being tested in the Netherlands yet , and the company says it still needs to test the idea in a lab to see how it performs under different conditions and whether it is safe to drive on when wet , for instance . But the city of Rotterdam said that it was considering serving as a pilot for the project . Jorritsma says that if Rotterdam ends up deciding not to serve as a pilot , other cities have shown interest , so he doesn ’ t think finding a site for road testing will be difficult . nn
References www . voanews . com – Researchers : Recycled concrete ’ s time has come inhabitat . com – Plastic Concrete : Building bricks made from landfill waste www . plasticsouplab . org – Researchers have created concrete using plastic waste thinkprogress . org – Netherlands company introduces plastic roads that are more durable , climate friendly than asphalt