100 + INNOVATIONS
Converting Coffee Cups into Asphalt Additives( State Asphalts)
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Closing the loop: coffee cups to road construction materials
Pilot Project
Challenge
Currently, 13,000 tonnes of liquid paperboard coffee cups are used per annum, of which 92 % go to landfill. These can be processed into Pak-Pave fibres, reducing the amount sent to landfill and removing the need to source imported fibres. This greatly reduces the carbon footprint associated with importation while retaining all the benefits associated with their use.
Solution
Liquid paperboard coffee cups are sourced and sorted prior to processing into pellets. These pellets have the composition required to incorporate them into the asphalt manufacturing process easily. Once incorporated, the pellets become an integral part of the asphalt stone-mastic matrix, their function being an intermediary for binder adhesion and retention in asphalt pavements, strengthening pavement performance.
Target customers / end-users
• asphalt manufacturers producing high-performance pavements
• local councils and state road authorities
• specialty asset owners( e. g., ports and airports).
Progress
• these fibres have been successfully used in a range of asphalt projects, notably by Penrith City Council and Shoalhaven City Council
• received Transport for NSW approval for use.
Actively implemented
TRL 5
Multidisciplinary team
Advanced Manufacturing, Materials & Design
Waste coffee cups have historically been a difficult product to recycle due to their complex composition. In collaboration with UNSW Sydney, State Asphalts has developed a way to process used coffee cups to create a product called Pak- Pave fibres – allowing it to be recycled into a high-value, key ingredient in the asphalt manufacturing process.
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