PLASTIC WASTE GIVEN NEW LIFE
That is right, plastic waste has been recycled and used to support trains. These new sleepers will replace the traditional concrete sleepers used to keep the correct distance between the two rail tracks and provide stability.
Manufactured by Sicut Ltd, the sleepers are made of locally sourced plastic waste such as plastic bottles, food packaging and other plastics that might otherwise end up in a landfill. This means that there will be less plastic waste sent to landfills.
Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris said: “I am proud to see such a positive innovation being used for the first time on the mainline railway.” This innovative reuse of waste material is the driving force behind the UK’s promise to achieve net-zero by 2050.
Network Rail’s Wessex route Director, Mark Killick, said: “Rail is already one of the greenest ways to travel, but we’re committed to even greener and better journeys whether this be changing how we maintain the lineside or finding innovative ways to improve the railway by reusing materials and reducing landfill.”
Reducing the amount of waste sent to landfills and finding ways to reuse the waste we do produce is the only way we can achieve our goal of net-zero and reverse the harmful effects of carbon emissions.