The road to a greener future may start in northwest England’s Cumbria county, where plastic litter is turning up in an unusual new place: street pavements.

In a trial run, a section of the A6 near Calthwaite was resurfaced with asphalt that incorporated a material made from recycled plastic developed by Scotland-based start-up MacRebur Plastics Road Company. The material, called MR6, acts like a superglue. When mixed with asphalt, its pellets create a more durable surface that also is cheaper to build than traditional roads. What’s more, MR6 replaces the need to use bitumen, an oil-based substance that makes up roughly 10 percent of a road’s total building materials, according to Inhabitat. (Rock, sand, and limestone constitute the rest.)

The company says roads constructed with MR6 are less likely prone to cracking and potholes, reducing maintenance costs. They also may reduce tire resistance, which could help improve fuel economy.

The first stretch of MR6-infused pavement road reportedly was the driveway of MacRebur’s founding engineer, Toby McCartney – pictured above.

Filed under: Special Features

Tags: environmental protection, MacRebur, materials, ocean plastic, plastic roads, Recycling, VolkerWessels