The opening of a new crumbed rubber blending plant in Launceston demonstrates the growing use of recycled materials in road surfaces underpinning a record road and bridge infrastructure program in Tasmania.
Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Michael Ferguson, congratulated Fulton Hogan for its commitment to promoting sustainability in its roadworks operations, with its new Mowbray plant now employing 50 Tasmanians.
"The Rockliff Liberal Government is promoting the use of crumb rubber in road surfacing as part of our commitment to reducing waste," Minister Ferguson said.
"This is part of our investment in the resource recovery sector as we build our circular economy.
"Through the Department of State Growth, we are expanding the use of crumb rubber in the state road resurfacing program.
"We are providing $4 million over four years to assist industry through the transition to using crumb rubber in road resurfacing and ensure there is no disruption to our roads program.
"A total of 18 sites were completed using a crumb rubber asphalt mix during the 2022-23 resurfacing season.
"Due to the civil construction industry's positive response to this initiative, crumbed rubber has been expanded into the broader resurfacing tenders from 1 July 2023.
"Nine sites will be targeted for resurfacing using crumb rubber in 2023-24, with consideration also given to including crumb rubber in some new construction projects,'' Minister Ferguson said.
The Rockliff Liberal Government will continue to work with industry to look for further opportunities to expand the use of crumb rubber in road resurfacing in the future.
