Springfield Properties boss Innes Smith said its installation at a site in Elgin would help tackle the country’s “plastic waste epidemic”.

The design reduces the use of bitumen, a form of crude oil used to make roads.

It has also been claimed the plastic surface is stronger than existing ones and could reduce potholes.

Springfield said it had become the first UK housebuilder to use a plastic road, after unveiling one at its Linkwood Steadings development in Elgin.

‘More durable road’

The company said that for every tonne of bitumen replaced, the road surfacing carbon footprint was reduced by a tonne of carbon dioxide.

Mr Smith said this was the latest in a series of green policies brought in by the company.

He added: “Now we have our first recycled plastic road in place, which gives our customers a more durable road and helps with the current plastic waste epidemic.

“We already have our second stretch of private road planned and going forward, we will be discussing recycled plastic roads with local authorities with a goal to using plastic roads on all of our developments across Scotland.”

Springfield teamed up on the project with asphalt producer Pat Munro and MacRebur, a company which has developed and patented a way to use waste plastic in roads.

The waste is turned into granules, then mixed with a secret “activator” ingredient, reducing the amount of fossil fuel in the asphalt mix.

The surface looks just like a traditional road, but the company behind it says the flexible properties of plastic make them up to 60% stronger.

Orginal Source