Riyadh - Mubasher: The General Authority for Roads announced the implementation of the first road in the world that uses the results of building demolition in asphalt mixtures on the road surface, in cooperation with the Al-Ahsa Municipality and the National Center for Waste Management (Mawan). The project involves using construction and demolition waste in the asphalt paving layers of a road in Al-Ahsa Governorate.

The Roads Authority explained today, Friday, that the initiative aims to enhance environmental sustainability and develop a more efficient infrastructure in response to environmental challenges, indicating that the management of construction and demolition waste is part of the plan to transition towards a circular economy in the Kingdom, as the Kingdom seeks to recycle 60% of this waste by 2035, according to the Saudi Press Agency "SPA".

She explained that the research study conducted at the Authority’s Road Research Center included evaluating asphalt and gravel layers containing aggregate resulting from crushing old building waste and concrete, which was supplied from the environmental landfill of the Al-Ahsa Municipality. This fruitful cooperation with the National Center for Waste Management (Mawan) comes to expand the use of this type of sustainable paving.

The Roads Authority confirmed that implementing the initiative is a step that embodies the Kingdom’s vision of transforming environmental challenges into innovative opportunities. This approach also contributes to reducing the environmental impact resulting from the accumulation of waste and reducing reliance on raw materials, which contributes to reducing the costs of road construction and maintenance and enhancing environmental sustainability, so that the roads sector becomes more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

The General Authority for Roads is working to achieve the objectives of the Roads Sector Strategy, which is based on quality, safety and traffic density, and whose vision stipulates encouraging innovation.