Tesco transform recycled plastic into a car park

Tesco Extra has resurfaced a store car park using the equivalent weight of 225,000 plastic carry bags, saving 900kg of plastics going to landfill.

The partnership with plastic road company MacRebur, is part of a broader Tesco initiative to improve its sustainability record, including looking for ways to reuse waste plastic, reduce carbon and promote a sustainable closed-loop system. More than 84 per cent of the packaging on the grocer’s own-brand products is recyclable, depending on local authorities collecting it.

MacRebur carefully selected plastics, taken from old rubbish, which it adds to road paving to improve strength and durability, whilst reducing the quantity of the oil-based bitumen used in traditional road mix.

The Tesco Extra Cuckoo Bridge car park was resurfaced using waste plastics that would have been destined for landfill or incineration. These are added into an asphalt mix without the need to alter the existing equipment used to make and install the asphalt.

Tesco will be testing this new road surface out at the Cuckoo Bridge store through the winter and hopes to work with MacRebur on future projects to help reuse waste plastic.

MacRebur is based in Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland. For every 10 tonnes of asphalt made with their additives included, they use the equivalent of 71,432 plastic bottles or 435,592 single-use plastic bags, or 32,399 used nappies. Ten tonnes of asphalt would surface about 90sqm.