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New Zealand: glass recyclers agitate for aggregate

Glass recyclers want the New Zealand government to foster the use of crushed glass instead of mineral aggregate in the base course for roads.
The Glass Packaging Forum said contaminated glass unsuita…

Glass recyclers want the New Zealand government to foster the use of crushed glass instead of mineral aggregate in the base course for roads. The Glass Packaging Forum said contaminated glass unsuitable for recycling into glass products could be used for roads in Auckland where stone is scarce and in regions where the cost of sending glass to centres for recycling is prohibitive. Glass is used in roads worldwide but its use depends on costing methods in road tenders and government policies. “One option could be to introduce a sustainable procurement policy along the lines of that enacted in California”, forum general manager John Webber said. “The California Bill will require the California Department of Transportation to use recycled aggregates in state paving projects unless it is economically infeasible”. In New Zealand, an amended Transit road specification introduced in 2006 allows for up to 5% of glass cullet to be used in the base course of roads. The use of glass cullet would provide a local answer for many communities that find the cost of sending glass to Auckland for processing too high, said Mr Webber. A cost-benefit analysis paid for by the forum found that aggregate with glass cullet cost around USD 2 a tonne more than conventional mineral aggregate. Glass was not economically viable unless councils included the potential cost of landfilling the glass in their sums. Sustainable construction targets could give incentives to councils, particularly on South Island, to use glass cullet in local roads. Each year the amount of glass packaging waste collected from households is rising by about 5%, increasing the amount of glass available for recycling. “The problem is that the premium for the glass cullet/aggregate blended product over a conventional mineral aggregate is around USD 2 per tonne. This effectively means that using 5% glass cullet in the mix may cost up to 30% more if low cost stone is available”. Mr Webber said that the big question was who pays the premium. “Road construction projects are highly competitive and contractors will always use the lowest cost product that complies with specification. We are encouraging the government to show leadership by placing a value on using sustainable aggregates so that glass recovered locally is utilised in local infrastructure”.

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