World's first ‘fully recycled’ road is built in France

A stretch of the A10 motorway between Pons and Saint-Aubin, France, is made of 100 percent recycled material. As part of a major motorway renovation project, the road was built by Eurovia and Vinci Autoroutes, subsidiaries of France-based Vinci Construction.

To make the new road, Eurovia took material from old roads and reprocessed them using a mobile asphalt plant, which made it possible to recycle 100 percent of asphalt aggregates at the site.

The project represents “significant progress” in construction recycling compared to the country's current recycle rate of 60 percent, notes Eurovia.

The company says the project helped to reduce its carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent because trucks didn’t need to drive from other sites. 

A key factor in the project was the design of the mobile plant, which produced 3,000 tons of material for the new road. Eurovia says the project was a result of more than two years of research and development.

Recycled materials have longtime been used in construction projects. Companies across the world have even used recycled waste and plastic on road projects, but Eurovia says this is the first motorway to be made entirely of recycled road.

The research project won the “Route to the Future” award by the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME). 

According to France 24, motorists have reported no noticeable change driving on the new road.