Australian suburbs pave roads using recycled coffee cups and glass, cutting carbon emissions
Two streets in Penrith, New South Wales, were resurfaced with asphalt that incorporates about 135,000 used coffee cups and the equivalent of 1.2 million glass bottles, lowering the pavement’s carbon footprint by roughly 24%.
In a first for Australia, State Asphalt Services partnered with recycling firm Closed Loop and the Simply Cups programme to lay two suburban roads using an asphalt mix that embeds roughly 135,000 discarded coffee cups and material from about 1.2 million glass bottles. The 750-metre stretch - split between Jamison Road in South Penrith and Swallow Drive in Erskine Park - achieved an estimated 24% reduction in carbon emissions compared with standard pavement, according to Closed Loop.
The technology, called PAK-PAVE™, emerged after a 50-metre test strip in western Sydney passed rigorous durability trials. The mixture also incorporates reclaimed asphalt, steel furnace slag and crushed glass, accounting for over half of the total composition. The project received support from the University of New South Wales via a Commonwealth Cooperative Research Centres grant and was approved by relevant NSW authorities. Advocates say the initiative demonstrates a circular-economy model, turning hard-to-recycle waste into a marketable, high-performance product.
Why it matters
It shows how everyday waste can be turned into a low-carbon building material, offering a model for sustainable infrastructure.
In this story
