New lease of life for concrete

Lockyer Valley Regional Council is giving a new lease of life to concrete.

Council's Waste Management team has joined forces with Infrastructure Works and Services (IWS) to ensure this valuable resource is used to its full capacity through an exciting new venture.

The Waste Management team is crushing waste concrete at the Gatton and Laidley waste facilities to be used by IWS in some of its road construction.

Waste Management Portfolio Councillor Jason Cook welcomed the initiative.

The use of recycled concrete was first trialled during the Laidley flood mitigation works when recycled crushed concrete was used to form a road access for a hard-stand area at the Laidley Landfill to manage excess soil, Cr Cook said.

Despite heavy rain, there was no significant scouring and the material demonstrated good longevity.

Cr Cook said the cost passed onto ratepayers was significantly reduced.

While there is obviously a cost to processing the concrete, the approach saves us buying virgin material from the quarries.

It is working well so far and we hope to use more of the product in the future.

There will never be enough recycled concrete material to meet IWS's requirements for road construction or maintenance but reducing costs, diverting a reusable material and extending the life of landfills is a great outcome," Cr Cook said.

For further information, contact Council on 1300 005 872 or visit www.lvrc.qld.gov.au