BY LAUREN KEMPE
The Hunter is set to receive its first of several new proposed glass recycling sites in Lake Macquarie in a bid to reduce regional waste and local construction costs.
Glass items will be collected from homes and businesses around the area and processed near Fishing Point as a cost-efficient alternative to regular sand for civil works in the city.
Council Sustainability Manager Alice Howe says the recycled glass will be used across Lake Macquarie for construction purposes.
‘The primary use of the material at the present is as a bedding sand for pipework. In the future, we see that there are applications for use in concrete and drainage.’
The site hopes to reproduce an annual 5,000 tonnes into glass sand.
The construction of the material will be available across Lake Macquarie for anyone who wishes to use it for civil works.
Ms Howe says the compound location is the first of many proposed for the Hunter over the next financial year.
‘We’re really hoping that we’ll be able to beneficially re-use all the recycled glass that is generated from households within the Hunter. That will mean there will be no requirement to send that material outside of the region, and will significantly reduce the costs associated with transporting and processing that material, as well as really demonstrating a closed-loop application of glass.’
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Image Credit: https://riverbeats.life/neworleans/new-orleans-recycling/ |