Plastic Roads Is Fundraising!  

Plastic Roads recently announced an important fundraising campaign and needs your donations!   Katharine Valentino,  RA member and Co-Founder of Plastic UpCycling Oregon, answers questions:  

Who's behind this grassroots effort?
We are Plastic Up-Cycling Oregon, an organization founded by a small group of people who saw a need to minimize plastic waste through local projects. We enlisted the support of Recycling Advocates, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and are working together with Recycling Advocates to bring non-leaching roads with plastic content to Oregon.

What is the goal of the campaign?

The goal is to raise the funds necessary for the required independent laboratory testing of the plastic road materials used by MacRebur, the preferred vendor who will lay the road.  

Who paves the roads?
ODOT does not itself pave roads. ODOT contracts with asphalt producers/road builders. 

Why is testing required? 
ODOT mandates testing for roads it is responsible for. Successful test results would seem to be inevitable since plastic roads have proved to be successful in Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Indonesia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Slovakia, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and trial roads in several states in the U.S.

Why are you doing this; why isn’t someone else?
Each state has different rules for road-building standards, and since we are in dire need of a viable and local solution to our plastic problem, we are doing our part to pave the way for this more environmentally friendly road-building process.  Making people aware of how we can end the plastic waste stream in Oregon is something we are passionate about. 

What's next? 
We are also working to get a pilot project going. Private-access roads, for example, can be built and repaired without ODOT involvement, and our next to-do item is to identify a project for a pilot. MacRebur's U.S. rep has agreed to work with whoever wants to build or repair such a road or even a driveway.  

I want to read more.  Where can I get info?
Plastic Roads Oregon
MacRebur - The Plastic Road Company

Questions? Please email the Plastic Roads team at info@plasticroads.org