Peter Murphy says most people assume the used glass bottles they throw in their bin are recycled.
But, he says, only about 60 per cent are given a second life while the rest go to landfill.
The managing director of Derrimut-based Alex Fraser Group, which recycles construction and demolition materials for infrastructure and maintenance, said the company’s research and development arm had spent more than 12 years working out a way to better recycle glass. And the’ve come a long way.
In a partnership with RMIT and Swinburne University of Technology, the group has devised a process that will turn discarded glass destined for landfill into sand that can be used to build roads.
“I think Melbourne should be pretty proud of this,” he said. “In other parts of the world, they’ve completely given up on recycling glass. But last year we took 141,000 tonnes [of glass] and were able to use it for roads,” he said.
The company plans to increased its glass-to- sand output next year.
Its partnership with universities is one of seven the state government is funding to find new uses for materials that can’t easily be recycled, such as plastic bags, lolly wrappers and glass bottles.
The company, which has facilities in Epping, Laverton North, Clarinda and elsewhere around the nation, will share in $640,000 of state government funding to create valuable products that will develop and expand markets for recovered crushed glass and flexible plastics.
