Road to plastics recovery?

According to an article in New York-based Tech Times, available here, the city of Rotterdam, Holland, is collaborating with Dutch company VolkerWessels to prototype roads made of recycled plastics recovered from the ocean in a "street lab."

According to the article, the recycled plastic is molded into hollow bricks that can be installed on-site. Because the roads are hollow, repairs could be completed without having to completely unearth pipes and electrical wires, according to Tech Times, which also asserts that the material could be suitable for creating roads where the soil isn't as stable, such as in swampy or sandy land.

Tech Times says Indian professor Rajagopalan Vasudevan also has an idea that uses recycled plastic to create a polymer for use in asphalt. “These roads would be stronger and cheaper, and they still use asphalt, making them a more realistic proposal than completely plastic roads,” the article states.

The VolkerWessels project reminds the publication of a Kickstarter campaign in 2014 to develop roads built using plastic hexagonal "bricks" that double as solar panels. Tech Times says the campaign earned $2.26 million as of June 2014, adding that the developer says it in on track to begin installing its first project in Sandpoint, Idaho.