The UAE Ministry of Infrastructure Development has launched the experimental stage of a project that will use a mix of recycled rubber asphalt to build public roads, as part of its efforts to achieve sustainability, promote innovation, encourage recycling, and create a national green road network. Rubber asphalt is pavement material that consists of regular asphalt concrete mixed with crumb rubber and used tyres.
The two-month pilot project, which is the first of its kind in the UAE, is being implemented in cooperation with French tyre maker Michelin. A specialist team will test a mixture of asphalt and recycled rubber, with the aim of developing an asphalt mix, according to the best national standards that can be used for future road construction projects.
Aisha Al Midfa, assistant under-secretary of the Infrastructure Planning Sector at the Ministry of Infrastructure Development, stated that the project highlights the ministry’s commitment to sustainability, and is part of its efforts to build a green road network in the UAE, to create a sustainable environment and infrastructure.
She added that the project reflects the ministry’s keenness to achieve sustainability, and focusses on the close work between the public and private sectors, while noting the ministry’s keenness to keep pace with the country’s strategic directives.
The ministry’s cooperation with the private sector, especially with Michelin, in constructing environmentally-friendly and sustainable roads will reduce noise pollution and the need for maintenance, as well as waste production and carbon emissions, through using recycled materials instead of traditional bitumen-based asphalt, she added.
Naser Shashaa, regional director of Michelin in the Middle East, stressed the company’s commitment to achieving sustainability and preserving the environment, through implementing its 4 Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Renewable, 4R Strategy.