Waste vegetable fat to surface the roads

Chip fat could be recycled to surface roads, following successful live trials in Bedfordshire.

Vegetex, made of waste vegetable oil, has been developed by PhD student Helen Bailey, Research Manager at Aggregates Industries, to replace 20% of bitumen, the material that binds asphalt road surfaces.

According to Bailey, Vegetex ticks all the boxes for environmental gains. For a start, it will be crucial to replace the 1.25 million tonnes of bitumen – made from crude oil, which will “not last forever” – used on UK roads each year. Substituting waste vegetable oil will ease pressure on landfill, and, because Vegetex is handled at lower temperatures, less energy will be used. There are also financial gains to be had, with reduced dependence on expensive imports.

Bradley Cordell, Environmental Consultant at the Transport Research Laboratory, said that “there is little in the ‘negatives’ column” for Vegetex, “providing that the recyclability and durability of road courses are not detrimentally affected, and that waste oil is not removed from established recycling streams which yield greater environmental benefits”.
– Rebecca Schischa

11 January 2010

Rebecca Schischa