Recycling material in Port Talbot

Tarmac is working with Costain and Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council to build a major new transport route in Port Talbot, Wales. We are using slag aggregates from the local steel works as the material to construct the road. Using these industry by-products brings many sustainability benefits, such as cutting embodied carbon emissions.

The £107 million Harbour Way scheme will establish a strategic link between West Wales, the UK motorway network, the trunk road network and mainland Europe. When the road is completed at the end of 2012, the new 4.5km long dual carriageway will improve access to the South West of Wales and support the area’s economic development. By the end of 2012, Tarmac will have supplied more than 450,000 tonnes of blast furnace slag aggregate for the project.

Tarmac’s National Contracting is laying the road using its FoamMaster recycled asphalt system as a sustainable and cost-effective alternative to conventional materials. The technology is energy-efficient, uses recycled materials, reduces transport movements and helps to conserve primary aggregate resources.

John Skentelbery, Harbour Way Project Manager at Costain, said: “Innovation and sustainability are key to Costain and Tarmac came up with a solution that was not only sustainable, but also represented value for money. Blast furnace slag is perfect engineering material for this type of works.”

Tarmac’s trading manager, Richard Hastings, commented: “The proximity of the steel works means that we have the perfect solution to make this road as sustainable as possible, helping us to cut embodied CO₂ and minimise haulage costs, culminating in one of the greenest carriageways in the country.”