One of the streets adjacent to La Alpujarra it was recently repaved. Although it seems like one more common way, it has a substantial difference. The asphalt mix with which they made it has recycled plasticeven if it is imperceptible to the naked eye.
Behind the initiative are the Mayor’s Office of Medellín and QH, a subsidiary of Ecopetrol. This company was the one that contributed the recycled polypropylene in the conditions of use required for the elaboration of the product. That is, the recycled and transformed plastic material that makes up the asphalt mix.
According to Ecopetrol, this It is the first road in the city that is paved under these conditions. In particular, it is Carrera 54, between Calles 42 and 44, located in the vicinity of the La Alpujarra Administrative Center and the Plaza de La Libertad building. Hundreds of public sector officials pass through there every day and it is one of the access roads of the Mayor’s Office of Medellín.
“With this work in Medellín, we advance in our plan of the Ecopetrol Group to massify the use of this type of asphalt, which is more environmentally friendly, on all roads in the country. Our purpose is to make efficient use of resources through circular economy initiatives to make our processes and products increasingly sustainable,” said Jessica MacMaster, Vice President of Corporate Excellence at Esenttia, a subsidiary of the Ecopetrol Group.
In that sense, The idea is that in the city there are more ways in which plastics can be reused and that these, as it happens, do not end up collapsing the sanitary landfills or contaminating the oceans.
The Secretary of Physical Infrastructure of Medellín, Adrián Alexis Correa, explained that this technology, in addition to being beneficial for the environment, helps to reduce up to 40 degrees Celsius the temperature of the pavement, something ideal to combat the warming of cities.
