Plastic innovation at Coles car park
A“Polyrok reduces the carbon footprint due to the reduced thermal mass it provides. This tackles the plastic problem and climate change all while being fit for purpose” – Mark Jacobsen
new concrete car park at Coles supermarket will be partly made of recycled softplastic waste material.
Coles has partnered with Victorian recycling organisations RED Group and Replas to work on the Roberts Avenue car park.
Under construction, the car park is the first commercial construction project in Australia to make use of Polyrok – a sustainable alternative to aggregate minerals used in concrete, such as stone.
Made from plastic bags and soft plastic packaging recovered from the Redcycle program, Polyrok has the potential to divert 105,000 tonnes of soft plastics from landfill each year, if used in commercial concrete projects across Australia.
Coles state construction manager Fiona Lloyd said the Horsham project was the first time the product had been used in a commercial environment.
“As one of Australia’s largest food retailers, we know how important it is to support initiatives that help to close the loop with soft plastics,” she said.
“This project alone will help repurpose about 900,000 pieces of soft plastic, to be used in the car park at the soon-to-be-competed Coles Horsham redevelopment.
“We have worked with RED Group, Replas and RMIT University throughout the development process and we’re excited to see how we can use this technology in more of our stores.”
Replas joint managing director Mark Jacobsen said Coles, Replas and RED Group were leading the way on recycling the soft plastics returned to Coles supermarkets.
“Polyrok reduces the carbon footprint due to the reduced thermal mass it provides,” he said.
“This tackles the plastic problem and climate change all while being fit for purpose. If innovative products like this were adopted in all buildings and car parks, the collective reduction in greenhouse gasses would be enormous.”
Waste reduction and environmental management assistant minister Trevor Evans welcomed the collaboration to find innovative and practical ways to reuse soft plastics.
“There is huge potential and opportunity for infrastructure projects to help us build a more circular economy,” he said.
“This is why the Federal Government has prioritised the development of new national standards and guidelines to encourage the use of recycled content in roads and other projects.”
Coles has worked with REDcycle since 2011, becoming the first major Australian supermarket to have Redcycle bins in every supermarket.
Since the partnership began, Coles and its customers have diverted more than 1.3-billion pieces of soft plastic from landfill.