A few plastic facts from today: It is estimated that every year, eight billion kilograms of plastic ends up in our oceans. 54% of plastics are still incinerated or dumped in landfills, and only 14% of plastic waste is recycled. At the same time, there are 40 million kilometers of roads around the globe.

PlasticRoad is – yes – a road made from plastic. It is 4 times lighter than traditional asphalt roads, has a 2-3 times longer expected live span than traditional paved roads, costs approximately 50% less, and can be built 70% quicker. The PlasticRoad concept consists of prefabricated, modular and hollow road structures made from recycled plastic. The hollow space can be used to temporarily store water (preventing flooding), power cables, and pipes (preventing excavation damages), with numerous other conceivable applications - sensors for charging EV’s.

PlasticRoad is a completely circular product with a significantly smaller carbon footprint than traditional road structures thanks to the longer lifespan and the reduction of transport movements involved in its construction. It is a virtually maintenance free product, unaffected by corrosion and weather, which means less road maintenance and less traffic jams and detours. Once PlasticRoad meets all the technical, environmental and safety requirements, a pilot installation will be built to perform practical tests, and the goal is to realize a pilot at the end of 2017 somewhere in the Netherlands. Initially, PlasticRoad will be used and tested as a bicycle path.