Plastic Bottles Recycled into Scottish Bridge by Axion International
10 January 2012 - Recycled plastic bottles that would otherwise have been headed for landfill have been transformed into a 90-foot heavy load bridge in Scotland.
Axion International turned the bottles into Recycled Structural Composite (RSC), which is made from 100% recycled plastics. The new material is in itself 100% recyclable at the end of its life - it won’t rot, crumble, splinter, rust or corrode and also requires no regular maintenance.
Components for the new bridge were constructed at Axion’s plant in Pennsylvania and shipped in six sections to Scotland.
The bridge took four days to erect and is to date the longest such structure built from recycled materials, meeting European standards with a load rating of 45 metric tons. It spans the River Tweed at Easter Dawyck near Edinburgh.
The technology behind the bridge was developed by Axion in conjunction with Rutgers University’s Material Sciences and Engineering Department. Axion have thus far built several such bridges in the US from its RSC material, with the most recent being in North Carolina.