Aggregate Industries has run a trial with Bedfordshire Highways which saw 20% of the bitumen content in asphalt mixes replaced with waste vegetable oil.

The contract on a residential road saw 145t of surface material laid, which included 40t of its Vegetex mix.

AI research manager Helen Bailey pointed out the UK currently uses around 1.25mt of imported bitumen every year: “The use of waste vegetable oil as a bitumen replacement offers a number of environmental gains including reduced CO2 for the resultant asphalt mixture, less dependency on landfill for disposal of the waste oil and the oil can be stored at lower temperatures reducing energy requirements,” she said.

http://www.aggregate-uk.com/

In January 2010 Sustainable Building and sister publication Brownfield Briefing will publish a brand new supplement, on the subject of waste and recycling in construction and demolition. More details here