Recycled stubbies paving Townsville’s future
Date published: 25 September 2018
Townsville’s state-of-the-art Material Recovery Facility is paving its way to success – turning empty jam jars and stubbies into sand used in construction materials such as pavers and asphalt.
Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill said glass bottles and jars were crushed at the Facility and turned into special sand, which was used to build infrastructure throughout Townsville.
“Most of the glass sand is used locally and goes into asphalt for making roads, building products such as masonry blocks for construction and civil applications such as pipe bedding,” Cr Hill said.
“This innovation is saving thousands of tonnes of product being taken to recycling plants down south.
“We are gradually increasing the amount of sand produced from glass to build more roads and potentially even use it to lay bedding for the new water pipeline.”
Townsville Waste Services Team Manager Matthew McCarthy said Council was always looking for ways to reuse our products locally in North Queensland.
“We have used 40 tonnes of the recycled sand in the road at the new Stuart Waste Transfer Station – that’s about 240,000 stubbies,” Mr McCarthy said.
“We are turning unwanted bottles and jars into a product that can be sold and used in building and infrastructure projects in our community.
“Council is committed to finding new and innovative ways to reduce waste, protect the environment and help to create jobs.”
15,000 tonnes of recyclable materials are taken to the facility from Townsville, Burdekin, Hinchinbrook and Whitsundays region each year.
