Israel National Roads Company Ltd. has begun to use construction waste in asphalt for paving roads long after the practice began being applied in other countries. The company has also initiated experiments to use glass waste as an alternative for aggregate.
Israel Roads used 400,000 cubic meters of construction waste at the Ad Halom junction. The waste was collected from the Hatzerot Jaffa building site where it had lain for years and become a serious environmental nuisance. The waste was treated, sorted, and cleaned before being transported to the junction.
Approximately one million cubic meters of construction waste is generated every year in Israel, some of which ends up in rapidly filling landfills, and some is dumped in open spaces. Since 2007, the Ministry of Environmental Protection has levied a landfill on construction waste in order to encourage recycling.
Israel Roads also plans to use glass to replace aggregate, which is in short supply. The glass is ground up into 5-10 mm particles, which are mixed with asphalt. The source of the glass is the bottle collection and recycling corporation or recycling facilities. This project is still in the testing stage. When the testing is completed, the product will be used on secondary roads.
Israel produces 5-6 million tons of asphalt a year, 95% of which is aggregate. Since Israel produces 100,000 tons of glass a year, all glass waste can undoubtedly be used.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 29, 2008
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