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UP to two tonnes of plastic pellets will make its way from Scotland to Jeffreys Bay over the next few weeks for the construction of the first “plastic” or eco-friendly road in Africa.
Gareth Nel, from MacRebur South Africa, said civil contractors were currently calculating how much asphalt would be needed to rebuild Koraal Street at Jeffreys Bay.
“Once we receive confirmation, the MacRebur factory at Lockerbie will package the pellets and ship them to the Port Elizabeth harbour. We expect that up to two tonnes of the product will be needed,” he said.
Kouga Municipality last week officially launched the plastic road trial, the first of its kind on the African continent.
“We are very excited to be piloting this eco-friendly approach to building roads,” said Kouga Executive Mayor Horatio Hendricks.
“If it is a success, it could spell the end of potholes, help to create jobs for local communities and address waste plastic pollution, which has become a serious concern across the globe.”
Nel said the pellets would be delivered to an asphalt manufacturer in Port Elizabeth.
“The product will be shipped ready to be added into the asphalt mix. The aggregate and bitumen that are still required to make up the asphalt will be purchased in South Africa.
“The asphalt manufacturer will then add the MacRebur product into the mix at the same time as the bitumen, as per the standard manufacturing process,” he said.
Mayor Hendricks said that while the product currently had to be imported, the municipality would like to see a factory being established locally if the trial is a success.
“The project has incredible job creation potential. Not only will people be employed at the factory, but there will also be an increase in demand for people to collect waste plastic for processing by the factory.
“We would like to thank MacRebur SA, SP Excel and Scribante Construction for joining hands with Kouga to roll out the project in Jeffreys Bay,” he said.
