From Soft Plastic To Footpath

Wyndham City has built a footpath in Werribee using an innovative concrete mix made from approximately 1 million pieces of soft plastics.   

The new 310-metre footpath along Parker Street comprises Polyrok, a mix of recycled plastic bags and soft plastic packaging that is created using plastic-to-cement binding technology.

Wyndham City Climate Futures and Environment portfolio holder Robert Szatkowski said the new footpath has saved approximately 1 million pieces of soft plastic from going to landfill.  

“Council is always looking for new ways to deliver our capital works program in an environmentally sustainable manner,” Cr Szatkowski said.

“Soft plastics have traditionally been among the hardest items to recycle, and Polyrok is an innovative and practical way to reuse these products.”

“As well as being sustainable, this new footpath aligns with the Wyndham Active Transport Strategy, a 10-year plan to connect the missing links in our walking and cycling paths that make journeys on foot, bike, scooter, wheelchair and the like harder than they need to be.”

“Over 2020/21, we are spending $2.2 million on new and upgraded footpaths and shared paths as part of the strategy.”

Cr Szatkowski said the Polyrok trial is another example of Council using environmentally sustainable materials to build and maintain Wyndham assets while reducing wastage.

“Last year, Council was a finalist in the Premier’s Sustainability Awards for a collaboration with Swinburne University to produce a footpath at Geddes Crescent Park in Hoppers Crossing using recycled plastic and glass,” Cr Szatkowski said.

“If we could use recyclables in most of our footpaths and roads, as we aim to eventually, we could save thousands of tonnes of plastic and other materials from being sent to landfill each year.”  

Wyndham City thanks our local concrete supplier, Outwest Concrete in Hoppers Crossing, who went above and beyond in delivering this project.     

Keep up-to-date with Council’s capital works projects by visiting the capital works dashboard: https://www.wyndham.vic.gov.au/capitalworksdashboard

To find out more about the Active Transport Strategy and the works currently underway, go to www.wyndham.vic.gov.au/project/active-transport-network