Potholes repaired with plastic pellets in road trial

Flintshire was reported to have a £40m backlog of road repairs

Recycled plastic has been used to resurface a road in Flintshire as part of a trial scheme.

Pellets made from the waste material were added to the asphalt laid at a junction in Connah's Quay.

Flintshire County Council wants to reuse items from residents' bins which are difficult to recycle and would otherwise go to landfill sites.

Deputy leader Carolyn Thomas said it was hoped the plastic surface would prove to be more durable.

Officers have been working with a Scottish firm which produces plastic pellets from bottles and bags to be melted into the asphalt as a binding agent in place of bitumen.

The trial surface was laid at the junction of Hall Lane and Normanby Drive in Connah's Quay on Tuesday.

It is hoped that adding plastic to the mix will make the road surface more durable

Ms Thomas said: "We've chosen an area of road that's well used and it's on a junction which are usually the first areas to break up.

"It's a trial area so we are monitoring it and I would like to see it last a number of years so we can roll it out to other areas as well."

It has previously been reported that Flintshire's roads have a repair backlog amounting to a total of £40m.

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The potential solution was first put forward by Connah's Quay councillor Paul Shotton, who has also suggested using drones to spot and fix potholes.

"I noticed this concept a few years ago and I am pleased Welsh Government has funded this pilot scheme," he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The plastic road surface was mixed by construction firm Breedon Southern Limited at their new plant in Llay, Wrexham.

Andy Roberts, the firm's general manager for north Wales, said as well as saving waste from going to landfill, the scheme had a carbon benefit by cutting the amount of oil used in the mix.

Councils in England have previously investigated using the pellets in this way and Neath Port Talbot Council has also trialled using meltable plastic bags to fix potholes.