At a glance 1 min

Europe's first recycled plastic bridge

Europe's first recycled plastic bridge
Europe's first recycled plastic bridge

A twenty-seven metre long bridge has just been erected across the river Tweed in Scotland. Just another bridge you might think but you’d be wrong. It was actually built by Welsh company Vertech, out of fifty tons of scrapped water bottles - the first recycled plastic bridge in Europe.

Built with the help of groups from America’s Rutgers University and Cardiff University in the UK, it spans the River Tweed in Peeblesshire. Designed to carry heavy goods vehicles, the bridge was made from a mix of high density polyethylene and polypropylene from waste plastic bottles and residue from the car industry. The bridge was built in a record time of 15 days from workshop production to installation. It requires no painting or special maintenance and did not need large amounts of heavy energy consuming resources in the manufacturing process.
And if it ever has to be demolished, it can be fully reused as it is 100% recyclable.

Vertech hopes the bridge will lead the way for the process being adapted throughout Europe, even in areas susceptible to natural disasters.

More information
www.sicut.co.uk/product-portfolio/vertech-bridges/
 

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