Victorian councils are increasing usage of recycled material in road, footpath and shared pathways construction.

Specifications can be used for either new projects or maintenance of existing infrastructure.

Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) President, Bill McArthur said the Local Government Roads to Zero Waste Challenge has set a more sustainable benchmark for national civil construction.

“With Victorian councils responsible for 129000 kilometres of roads and 40000 kilometres of footpaths, this is a great example of where large-scale practical action can reduce our carbon footprint and achieve zero waste,” Mr McArthur said.

According to Mr McArthur, the use of recycled crushed glass, crushed brick and crushed concrete in the base of the pavement construction creates new market uses for 2.2 million tonnes of stockpiles and 800000 tonnes sent to landfill each year.

“Local government’s average road expenditure accounts for between nine and 20 per cent of their total budget, but can be much higher for some rural shires,” Mr McArthur said.

He said embracing the use of approved recycled content will reduce councils’ civil construction costs, energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and the reliance on quarried materials, which are “harder to source”.

“The laboratory and field testing concluded that recycled crushed brick and crushed glass in blends of up to 30 per cent were equivalent to, or exceeded the performance of quarried rock,” Mr McArthur said.

Costing will vary by project depending on the length of roads or footpaths, the amount of recycled material used, and contractors sourcing the material’s price.

Councils already involved with the project are Bayside City Council, Brimbank City Council, Port Phillip City Council, Surf Coast Shire Council, and Manningham City Council.