The Generalitat de Catalunya Agency for Business Competitiveness (ACCIÓ) has awarded funding to the project “New decarburising asphalt mixes made from recycled plastic waste polymers, Asfaplast”. As part of the "Nuclis d'R+D empresarial" call for grants for industrial research and experimental development, this subsidy of €228,221.59 will allow for further evaluation of new materials for the manufacture of paving.  
 
From June 2021 and during the 19 months of the project, the research team will work on generating scientific and technological knowledge to obtain a new material by incorporating recycled plastic polymers into asphalt mixes. These plastics come from end-of-life plastics, cans, and cartons generated in construction activities. The polymers will act as modifiers of the final characteristics of an asphalt mix to obtain paving with high structural and surface performance.  

 

The project, led by Sorigué's research laboratory, is in collaboration with business group company Nordvert, which specialises in integrated waste management and the provision of urban environmental services. This firm business commitment to the circular economy seeks to make the best use of resources originally designed for other purposes and discarded after their useful life. 
 
According to RIS3CAT (Research and Innovation Strategy for the Intelligent Specialisation of Catalonia) criteria, the Asfaplast project is located in the chemistry, energy and resources sector, given that its objective is to achieve a greater degree of specialisation in the formulation of asphalt mixes using advanced materials as an enabling technology.