Coverage in Construction News, Contract Journal, Wastes Management, Energy & Environmental Management, Retail Bulletin

Waste glass will be used in the construction of new carparks at B&Q warehouses and superstores following the signing of a major deal this summer with specialist contractor RMC Surfacing.

The do-it-yourself retailer has agreed to use RMC’s coated macadam Glasphalt in the construction of at least 10 new store carparks due to be built in England and Wales over the next couple of years. The deal follows the use of Glasphalt on two of B&Q’s carparks, at its new Culverhouse Cross superstore in Cardiff and at a B&Q warehouse in Bristol.

RMC Surfacing’s northern area manager Jeff Glasspoole said: “We are hoping for at least £1M of work during the next year as a result of this agreement. Each contract is set to use significant quantities of glass because each B&Q warehouse carpark can cover an area up to 12,000m2.”
Glasphalt contains up to 30 percent glass in place of primary aggregate and has been developed by materials specialist RMC Aggregates. The material is used only in the lower construction layers of a road, such as in the base and binder courses.

Using glass as a component in asphalt presents clients and local authorities with a number of significant economic and environmental advantages. Its reuse helps to cut costs associated with the disposal of glass at landfill and reduces the consumption of primary aggregate such as limestone needed in the asphalt mix, helping to save natural resources.

Glasphalt is typically used to repair worn highways and in recent months has been laid on two UK motorways for the first time – the M50 in Gloucestershire and the M6 in Cheshire. But it is hoped that the appeal of the material will widen further beyond being used on just highways, following the signing of the carpark construction deal with B&Q.

Press release issued by Barrett Byrd Associates, Linden House, Linden Close, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN4 8HH Date of issue: 23 July 2003. Electronic photography is available on request.

For more information, please contact:
Ian Southcott
RMC Aggregates
telephone: 01527 575777

Mike Walter
Barrett Byrd Associates
telephone: 01892 524455

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Crushed glass construction for B&Q carparks
RMC Aggregates
Press release, July 2003.