{"id":430576,"date":"2025-12-07T08:20:51","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T08:20:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/430576\/"},"modified":"2025-12-07T08:20:51","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T08:20:51","slug":"blazing-a-trail-for-others-to-follow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/430576\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Blazing a trail for others to follow’"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new asphalt additive made of recycled plastic could help make Scottish roads more durable and eco-friendly.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The product is called EcoFlakes<\/a>, and it is being tested for the first time in the United Kingdom on a road in Motherwell, Scotland, according<\/a> to North Lanarkshire Council.<\/p>\n

To roll out a new layer of road<\/a>, construction crews make asphalt by combining things like gravel and sand with a crude-oil byproduct called bitumen. Intense heat is applied to bind the materials together<\/a>, and planet-heating gases are released along the way.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In fact, the creation and upkeep of roads accounts for over 12% of those harmful gases globally, according to the World Resources Institute<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, adding EcoFlakes into the asphalt mixture<\/a> can cut up to 20% of the related pollution and make the resulting road last longer, the council reported.<\/p>\n

That means using the recycled plastic product is a double win. It can enhance the road’s quality for drivers while also replacing some of its dirtier oil-based ingredients with a cleaner option.\u00a0<\/p>\n

TCD Picks \u00bb Upway Spotlight<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udca1Upway makes it easy to find discounts of up to 60% on premium e-bike brands<\/p>\n

Plus, reusing plastic is always an added bonus, since it is another material derived from oil and often pollutes<\/a> natural environments.<\/p>\n

Want to bring similar benefits into your everyday life? There are all kinds of ways to ditch single-use plastic<\/a> and embrace reusable materials, such as buying a metal water bottle<\/a> or glass food storage dishes. Even small changes<\/a> can end up saving you money and protecting your health.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The section of Scottish road made with EcoFlakes will be monitored for the next five years. The trial is made possible by Live Labs 2, a Department for Transport initiative to improve highways across the UK.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Other test products in the program include anti-ice asphalt, biochar<\/a> surfacing, and self-healing concrete, per the statement.<\/p>\n

TCD Picks \u00bb Stasher Spotlight<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udca1Stasher’s reusable food storage options make it easy and affordable to live life with less plastic<\/p>\n

“As the only council in Scotland to be involved with Live Labs 2, we really are blazing a trail for others to follow,” North Lanarkshire councillor Helen Loughran said. “We’re showing that sustainable infrastructure is not only possible but practical.”<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcb0Get TCD’s free newsletters<\/a> for easy tips to save more, waste less, and make smarter choices \u2014 and earn up to $5,000 toward clean upgrades in TCD’s exclusive Rewards Club<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"Cool<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new asphalt additive made of recycled plastic could help make Scottish roads more durable and eco-friendly.\u00a0 The…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":430577,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,990,2824,3341,159,20747,67,132,68,20748,114486,20749],"class_list":{"0":"post-430576","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-food","10":"tag-outdoors","11":"tag-plastic","12":"tag-science","13":"tag-tech-showcase","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-us","17":"tag-waste-less","18":"tag-waste-conservation-showcase","19":"tag-yahoo-tech"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115677317804707743","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=430576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430576\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/430577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}