ARRB Report to Guide Increased Recycled Material Use in Road and Rail
Waste materials such as plastic, glass, organic food waste, and tyre rubber can now be used with more confidence in building Australia’s roads and railways.
A new report by the Australian Road Research Board (ARRB) provides an independent, expert review on how to safely and successfully increase the use of recycled materials in road and rail infrastructure.
The report says many recycled materials are shown to actually improve the performance of roads. It also recommends plastic and organic food waste – two of Australia’s problem waste areas - can be more widely used for building road and rail infrastructure.
Plastic can be used for applications such as building noise walls, while organic food waste was earmarked for more widespread use in landscaping and erosion control.
ARRB says using more recycled materials in the construction, rehabilitation and maintenance of road and rail infrastructure has a host of benefits for Australia, including less waste sent to landfill, lower greenhouse gas emissions, job creation and better, more durable roads.
Despite a long history of using recycled materials in infrastructure, it’s still not business-as-usual within roads and rail.
The report says the reasons are lack of awareness and education, the disconnection between market demand and supply, lack of specifications and guidelines, and most importantly, the lack of consistent and scientific evidence to report on longer-term performance and sustainability benefits. That’s something ARRB says should change as a result of this report.
“This project provides robust, evidence-based knowledge on how to optimise the uptake of recycled materials in infrastructure projects,” ARRB says in the report.
“There is ample opportunity to increase (recycled materials) content within transport infrastructure applications, or even the frequency that they are used."
“There are also emerging recycled materials technologies that have significant opportunity for increased uptake. Improved awareness and education in how these materials are used, supported by policy and procurement drivers, new and improved specifications and more modern recycling facilities with increased capacity, can all contribute to increases in the use of recycled materials, sustainability outcomes and a more circular economy.”
Commissioned by the Federal Government’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, the report examined 10 recycled materials for their potential use within road and rail infrastructure. They were crushed concrete and brick, crushed glass, reclaimed asphalt pavement or RAP, crumb rubber, ground granulated blast furnace slag, fly ash, bottom ash, recycled organics, recycled ballast and recycled plastics.
The report, in two parts, shows significant economic and environmental benefits for the majority of recycled materials in road and rail infrastructure.
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International Road Conference Set to Connect Africa and Stimulate Growth
The South African road network, valued to be an asset of around R3 trillion, is the arterial system through which the country’s economic lifeblood flows. This is to be celebrated at the upcoming 7th Regional Conference for Africa, being hosted by the South African Road Federation (SARF) in collaboration with both the International Road Federation and the World Road Association.
To be held from 18 to 20 October in Cape Town, South Africa (at the Cape Town International Convention Centre), the theme is “Connecting Africa through Smart, Safe and Resilient Roads: Stimulating Growth and Trade on the Continent”.
With SARF having successfully produced African Regional Conferences on a regular basis since 1988, the event has become an international knowledge-sharing platform held in high regard for innovation and the presentation of best-practice implementation from across the globe. As a result, this South African event is now recognised as the flagship gathering for the Southern African roads sector – the last of which took place in 2018 in Durban, with over 420 delegates attending alongside 35 exhibitors.
“Physical conferences have always provided crucial and unique networking and knowledge-sharing opportunities that we’ve lost over the past few years. We believe the return this year to a physical venue post-pandemic will mark a pivotal event for our industry worldwide,” says local conference organiser, Basil Jonsson, the Operations Director for SARF.
As a result, a number of prominent international and local keynote speakers have already confirmed, among them World Bank consultant and civil engineer Nazir Alli, a South African who is currently the President of PIARC and formerly the Founding CEO of the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL).
Other keynotes confirmed to date include Professor André Roux (Head: Futures Studies Programme, University of Stellenbosch Business School), and Dr Pierre Voges (CEO of the Atlantis Special Economic Zone Company and former CEO of the Mandela Bay Development Agency).
Jonsson also notes that over 114 abstracts have been received for consideration by the conference technical committee, indicating a strong interest in the event not only from the countries that usually attend (including the UK, the USA, various EU countries as well as those in the Middle East and Africa), but also from Japan, Mexico and New Zealand.
He adds that, as always, strong local support for the event had also already been demonstrated: “To date, 45% of all abstracts submitted have been from South Africa.”
With the final programme to be finalised by the end of June, presentations and speakers would fall under seven key sub-themes, namely:
- Determination of roads needs and financing mechanisms;
- Preserving Africa’s road assets;
- Safe and efficient transport by road;
- Innovative practices to optimise road networks;
- Roads and the environment;
- The role of low-volume roads in rural connectivity, and
- Capacity development in the roads sector.
Jonsson believes there will be particular interest both locally and internationally in two of these focus areas, namely road safety and low-volume roads, but notes that the sub-themes cover the full scope of the reach of the South African Road Federation. To accommodate the volume of topics and information to be exchanged, each day of the conference will be structured with an overall main session to start, followed by numerous breakaway sessions.
Apart from both the local and international interest in the event, delegates will themselves range across the full spectrum of those involved in the planning and delivery of road networks, including:
- Provincial and local government and roads agencies/authorities;
- Civil engineering contractors, consultants, and suppliers;
- Quantity surveyors involved in road projects;
- Road, bridge, and tunnel builders and maintenance contractors;
- Traffic planning and management systems companies;
- ITS and communication companies;
- Road safety specialists and suppliers, and
- Road lighting and signage companies.
ESCA accreditation has been secured by SARF with 1 CPD Point in Category 1 for each of the three days of the conference.
A trade exhibition will once again run alongside the conference, with close to 70 percent of space already booked. Numerous opportunities for sponsors are also available. Early bird registration is currently open until 9 September, with discounts of up to 20 percent for those taking advantage of this. For out-of-town delegates, special accommodation rates have also been secured at a number of Southern Sun Hotels close to the conference venue.
SWARCO Inaugurates New Factory in Lower Austria
Two years of planning preceded the groundbreaking ceremony in May 2019 at the Neufurth Business Park in the Amstetten district. Now, another three years later, the SWARCO Global Glass Beads Technology Centre has started operations. 90 employees ensure market-leading products for road safety and industrial applications in the world's most modern and sustainable glass bead factory.
On 3 June, a good 250 guests from the workforce, politics, business, and the neighbourhood celebrated the official opening with a summer party.
SWARCO's CEO Michael Schuch explained in his speech that the founding site on Industriestrasse in Amstetten was bursting at the seams in terms of capacity after more than five decades of successful operations. "So we decided to remain loyal to the Amstetten district and build anew on a greenfield site in Neufurth. We have made the largest single investment in our company's history and, with technological innovations and process optimisations, have thus built what is probably the most modern and sustainable glass bead factory in the world. Our business partners in 80 countries on all continents will benefit from this in terms of product quality, product range diversity, and service," said Schuch, who expressed special thanks to the staff for their enormous efforts in recent months.
In addition to innovative production facilities for micro glass beads, the new site also houses the "Centre of Competence" of the Road Marking Systems Division, with modern laboratories as well as pilot and test facilities. With new technologies and an increased level of automation, SWARCO is taking another step towards increasing customer satisfaction.
Peter Tomazic, Vice President Production & R&D of SWARCO's Road Marking Systems Division, emphasises that the company has pushed the issue of sustainability from planning to construction and operation. "Energy efficiency and pollution reduction are at the heart of the production and development work," Tomazic said. "All electrical processes run on electricity from Austrian hydropower and other sustainable energy sources. We use the waste heat from the production processes as heating energy for the building. The dust particles from the filter systems are recycled directly in the factory. We also pay great attention to minimising the ecological footprint of all future SWARCO products in the RMS Division," Tomazic underlined. During the opening ceremony, the company demonstrated corporate social responsibility in action and presented the Lower Austrian nature conservation organisation Lanius with a cheque containing a donation of money and, above all, time for volunteer work in the interest of environmental protection.
The employees now have access to modern offices and conference rooms, a showroom in the entrance area, an elegant canteen, large information screens throughout the building and even a gym.
During the opening ceremony, Aschbach's parish priest Father Georg Haumer blessed the building. Elisabeth Swarovski, SWARCO supervisory board member and widow of company founder Manfred Swarovski, unveiled a bronze plaque in front of the main building in memory of her husband, a globally recognised pioneer for more safety on the roads.
ITS European Congress 2022: Start-ups Win!
Three successful companies, Angoka, ASIMOB and MobiQu, were awarded the European Start-Up Prize for Mobility at the ITS European Congress held in Toulouse (France) on 30 May - 01 June 2022.
The three winners of the competition, which is a European Union Acceleration & Investment programme, were chosen from 10 pitches in Toulouse, where Ertico - ITS Europe boss Joost Vantomme handed out the awards.
IRF Start-up Label Winner, ASIMOB, was specifically awarded with the Market Innovation Award. ERTICO recognised the way ASIMOB is approaching the market and the proposal of digital transformation in Operation and Maintenance of roads, due to the impact on Road Safety. ASIMOB connects road managers with their infrastructure, using IoT sensors and cameras in the vehicles themselves to gather updated information about highway and weather conditions.
Internet of Things (IoT) security provider Angoka's solutions are designed to enable the cybersecurity and safety of devices, vehicles and networks - "protecting against the negative effects of the boom of IoT and smart devices", it says.
And finally, MobiQu's solution reflects the increase in last-mile deliveries, integrating IoT into high thermal insulation and active and passive temperature control technologies, creating customisable smart box solutions that allow more deliveries and longer trips.
IRF at the International Transport Forum 2022
The International Road Federation was very pleased to join the transport community at the International Transport Forum 2022 (ITF 2022) held in Leipzig, Germany on 18 – 20 May. A special edition of ITF Summit not only because it was the first one hosted in person after two years, but also because it marked for our Federation the start of the IRF Presidency of Mr Anouar Benazzouz.
Here some of the highlights of this productive week spent in Leipzig!
New IRF President Takes Up Function
Elected by the IRF General Assembly, Mr Anouar Benazzouz succeeds to Mr Bill Halkias who has concluded his three-year mandate at the helm of IRF.
At the Summit, Mr Benazzouz received the best wishes of the Moroccan Minister of Transport & Logistics, H.E. Mohammed Abdeljalil who commented “We are proud of the leadership Morocco is demonstrating at international level when it comes to innovating transport systems. We take these engagements truly at heart and are committed to contribute and to work with others to deliver a sustainable mobility to all.”
Read the full press release here.
Ministers’ Roundtable on Road Safety: IRF President Stresses the Role of Private Sector
IRF President, Anouar Benazzouz, joined the Ministerial Roundtable on 18 May. The MRT explored how synergies can be created to support a sound implementation of the Decade of Action 2021-2030. How can governments encourage action on road safety as a cross-cutting issue in sustainable development? How can governments ensure that both road safety and other policy objectives are achieved? How can governments and the international community accelerate these efforts through international cooperation?
These some of the questions on the table for discussion by a high-level panel that included among others: areTomas Eneroth (Minister of Infrastructure, Sweden), Hildegarde Naughton (Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Ireland), Pete Buttigieg (Secretary of Transportation, USA), Mohammed Abdeljalil (Minister of Transport and Logistics, Morocco), Graziella Marok-Wachter (Minister of Infrastructure and Justice, Liechtenstein), Andrzej Bittel (Secretary of State at the Minister of Infrastructure, Poland).
“The potential contribution of private sector to road safety still remains largely untapped today. We need to learn to better harness the power of corporate resources and their presence in our communities” stressed IRF President in his intervention. “It is important to understand how private companies integrate road safety into their overall sustainability efforts and which are the most effective strategies they apply to do so”. M. Benazzouz reported also on the work being carried out by the IRF - with the support of the TotalEnergies Foundation – for the creation of private sector road safety coalitions around the world.
Read more and access pictures here.
Regulating for Inclusive Access: Lessons for Transport from the Pandemic
During the height of the pandemic, we all learned what it means to be a person with reduced mobility due to the restricted access to various opportunities. For people with disabilities, this is a daily reality. In response to barriers in access and reduced mobility, people with disabilities often have to adapt quickly, and in pragmatic ways. The need for adaptability is a key lesson from the pandemic, and it illustrates opportunities for short-term action to shape inclusive urban mobility after the pandemic.
IRF DG, Susanna Zammataro shared during the session some of the key learnings from research IRF conducted – together with the Global Alliance of road safety NGOs - on the impact of Covid-19 on transport and mobility in Africa.
Access summary, pictures, and recording here.
Open Ministerial - Governing for Inclusion: the Right Framework for Universal Access
The Open Ministerial focused on the ways better regulation, improved coordination and clear roles and responsibilities among authorities at all levels of government can help promote social and economic inclusion.
Addressing an impressive line-up of ministers, IRF President – Anouar Benazzouz said the theme chosen for this year edition of the Summit could not resonate any better with “the organization that I represent. IRF’s mission is in fact to promote road networks that enable access and sustainable mobility for All. For the past 75 years we have been working relentlessly - to build in our sector enabling partnerships to address critical issues. And definitively, access and inclusion are two such critical issues” he said.
IRF President brought to table the importance of proper stakeholders’ engagement, meaning “ensuring that solutions to address the needs of all people are truly designed with them and not just for them”. He concluded his intervention by underlining the importance of research and data to understand the context and dynamics of decision-making. Referring to pioneering work done by SuM4All, he stressed that “Data and data sharing, in particular, can help speed up the pace of change in a number of key areas”.
Read more and access pictures here.
Asian Transport Outlook as a Common Transport Knowledge Base for Asia and the Pacific
To improve the knowledge base on transport in Asia and the Pacific, the Asian Development Bank launched the Asian Transport Outlook (ATO). Its objective is to help countries in the region develop and implement transport policies, programmes and projects. It also tracks the implementation of global agreements on climate change and sustainable development in the Asian region. Apart from this, the ATO is of direct use for the planning and delivery of transport assistance by the ADB and other donors.
Held on 19 May, this event presented an overview of the accomplishments of the ATO and provided an outline of the plans for the future. IRF Senior Programme Manager & Head of Statistics, Julia Funk, joined a panel of experts representing the users of the ATO as well as other providers of transport data and policy information to share IRF’s 58 years of experience in data collection and management.
Side Event on Resilient Transport for More Resilient and Inclusive Societies
Transport professionals, business leaders, heads of international organisations, policy makers and leading researchers joined this side event at the ITF Summit on 20 May hosted by IRF together with the High-Volume Transport Applied Research Programme (HVT) and SuM4All.
Under the theme “Resilient Transport for More Resilient Societies”, the event exposed key findings of HVT’s research on what is needed for a more equitable transport, particularly in times of distress. IRF Director General, Susanna Zammataro, moderated the event that welcomed a high-level panel of speakers from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), the HVT Research Programme, Walk 21, SuM4All, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), CEPT University and ITP.
A summary of the event is available here.
PIARC’S Biannual Advisory Group Meeting
PIARC met with partners both in-person and online to discuss emerging issues in the light of preparations for the upcoming PIARC strategic plan 2024-2027. IRF DG Susanna Zammataro and Gonzalo Alcaraz, Deputy DG were present and contributed to the discussion with a short presentation on what are – in the view of IRF – key strategic areas where collaboration is needed.
IRF has been regularly attending the PIARC Advisory Group which meets twice a year, and it is designed to provide an opportunity for PIARC and its partners to discuss strategic issues, share news and identify opportunities for collaborations with other organisations that are active within the road transport sector.
Bilateral Meetings
The Summit offered a unique opportunity for bilateral meetings…
Highlights From a Successful 14th ITS European Congress
The International Road Federation was proud to support the 14th European ITS Congress on 30 May – 01 June 2022 organised by ERTICO ITS Europe and Toulouse Métropole. The ITS European Congress offered a platform for thought leaders, developers, entrepreneurs and decision makers from the transport, logistics and IT industries to share ideas and progress smart and sustainable mobility.
IRF Director General, Susanna Zammataro and IRF Deputy Director General, Gonzalo Alcaraz, were pleased to join the transport community in Toulouse, France, to moderate and deliver insightful contributions on infrastructure, data and autonomous mobility.
IRF Deputy Director General, Gonzalo Alcaraz, moderated two sessions on 30 May: “Preparing the Infrastructure for Autonomous Mobility” and “Digital Data and Infrastructure”. The session “Digital Data and Infrastructure” hosted a panel of speakers from Monotoch, ERTICO, Transport & Mobility Leuven and Vicomtech Foundation. They presented a series of technical papers on next-generation transport solutions. Some of the topics addressed during the session included C-ITS Communication, Road Data Sharing Services, New Mobility Data and 5G Features and Standards for Vehicle Data.
The second session moderated by Alcaraz was a Special Interest Session under the theme “Preparing the infrastructure for Autonomous Mobility”. The session welcomed speakers from SWARCO, FACTUAL, ZF, ERF, and MAPtm. Its objective was to tackle key aspects of autonomous mobility as a means to respond to new transport demands and to deliver value to society and businesses. Drawing from the experience of the SHOW project - of which IRF is a member of the delivering consortium - a concrete example about the use of autonomous vehicles within the public transport realm was presented during the session.
“Road infrastructure plays a fundamental role in the quest for reaching highly and fully autonomous mobility solutions, as the new paradigms and ecosystems of mobility require greater collaboration among all the stakeholders involved. We, as IRF, are committed to support this transition by creating and sharing knowledge, by providing access to our network and by advocating for safer, more efficient and sustainable solutions” commented IRF Deputy Director General, Gonzalo Alcaraz.
A session coordinated by Malika Seddi, Secretary General of ASECAP on 1st June brought also gender and road safety high on the agenda of the congress. Speaking at the session, Susanna Zammataro, IRF Director General, recalled how road safety has always been central in the work of the International Road Federation. She stressed three points in her intervention.
The first one about the potential contribution of the private sector: “There’s a lot that we can learn from private sector since companies put a lot of effort into reducing risks and optimizing performance” she said. The second point was on the key role that infrastructure plays and the need for more targeted investments for new and upgraded infrastructure. In her thrird point, IRF DG recalled the important contribution that data and technology can provide in building the business case for safer roads. “But we also need to use more effectively the resources we already have. There are lots of low-hanging fruits out there, simple things that do not require additional investment” she stressed. Revising design standards so that they can address the needs of all road users is one of them. “For a long time, transport planning and design have paid little attention to gender” she said. Public investments in transport are still today very often made to meet the travel needs of adult men. And the planning is rarely informed by data and evidence on gender-based mobility needs.
“Research has proved that women have safer and more sustainable mobility habits so preserving these habits by making the right investment choices will be critical to ensure a safer and low-carbon future” she concluded.
The session also welcomed Jacqueline Erhart, ASFINAG AG, Emanuela Stocchi, AISCAT, Tiffany Vlemmings, NDW, Netherlands and Laura Coconea, SWARCO AG, as speakers.
PE Roads of Serbia Launches New Road Safety Educational Campaign
On 13 May 2022, the PE Roads of Serbia hosted a high-level event in Belgrade to present a series of videos for its two ongoing educational campaigns “Don’t drive with a stop lane, don’t stop life” and “A Sign means Life”. High-level stakeholders such as the Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Tomislav Momirović and Chief of the Traffic Police Administration, Slaviša Lakićević, were among the attendees.
Addressing the audience in the opening ceremony, IRF Director General, Susanna Zammataro said “Road Safety is not just the responsibility of governments. We are all responsible and we can all contribute. Hence the importance of this campaign. Every action counts.” She also stressed the role of infrastructure in saving lives “When it comes to infrastructure, the proven, high-return and evidence-based infrastructure solutions to save lives exist. But there is currently a significant underfunding of infrastructure for road safety”.
“Innovative finance is needed for impact and scale. (…) The industry is committed and ready to do its part. Do count on the IRF and on the support of our members to push this agenda forward”, she concluded.
The objective of the campaign is to increase traffic safety on state roads by warning road users about the dangers of driving in the stop lane of the highway, and of destroying or stealing traffic signals.
In the Republic of Serbia, more than 500 people lose their lives every year in road traffic crashes; over 120 people have died in motorway traffic accidents in the past three years; More than 20 fatalities happened in the motorway emergency lanes just in the past year.
Through the educational campaign “Do not drive in emergency lane, do not stop life” the PE Roads of Serbia intends to raise awareness among motorways’ users on the importance of using correctly the emergency lane. This campaign is carried out to improve the behaviour of drivers who use the motorway emergency lane improperly and aims to change their behaviour to ensure that this lane is free for the movement of high-priority vehicles.
At the same time, more than 25.000 traffic signs and parts of equipment have been damaged or stolen in the last four years on the Serbian roads – with a cost that adds up to over a million euros. That is why, the second campaign “Traffic Signs Means Life” intends to point out how damaged and stolen traffic signage and equipment affect road traffic safety.
Guided by the idea that road crashes can be prevented, the PE Roads of Serbia wants to systematically raise the awareness of road users. Educational videos and radio spots, announcements on social networks, informative leaflets, and posters, are part of this comprehensive educational campaign.
