A New Zealand company is turning plastic waste into high-quality concrete.
Plazrok, the brainchild of south Auckland-based company Enviroplaz, is unique in that it can transform absolutely any type of plastic into a rock-like substance that forms the aggregate of concrete.
"We don't take the labels off, we don't have to disassemble it or take any of the other components off it, we can use it in its entirety," said Enviroplaz founding director Peter Barrow.
"We don't even need to clean it - the process we put it through does everything for us."
What's more, concrete companies would not have to change their processes at all in order to use the Plazrok in their product.
Yet they would end up with concrete that is 10 to 40 per cent lighter than usual.
That spells big savings.
"For example, when they were building Britomart ... there were 7000 truck movements between Wiri and Britomart in order to deliver that concrete. If you decreased the weight by 20 per cent you've dropped that down to 5000 trips. Think about what that does for your industry, for the roads, for your diesel usage, for your tyre savings," Barrow said.
Plazrok concrete had strengths comparable to conventional concrete, while offering seismic advantages.
"There's no reason that we should be chucking plastic in the oceans or rivers, or in landfills," Barrow said.
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