SARAWAK is planning to build roads from used plastic bottle caps and crumb rubber using new technology which will be durable, sustainable, better quality and environmentally friendly.

State Deputy Minister of Energy and Environmental Sustainability, Dr Hazland Abang Hipni, said that a Kuching-based company had taken up the task to turn used tyres into crumb rubber as a material for road construction.

“We are going to use plastic for the Bintulu-Miri highway repair works. We are working with Petronas, as it has the technology utilising plastic bottle caps,” he said when speaking at a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing ceremony, between Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) and Hornbill Networks Consortium Sdn Bhd, at the university’s campus in Kota Samarahan, today.

Hazland said plastic bottle caps were preferred for building roads as they are made of non-toxic material.

“Hence, we need a few million tonnes of bottle caps in the future to build our roads,” he added. 

The MOU signed by Unimas and Hornbill Networks Consortium is to collaborate on research on fly ash, a fine powder formed from mineral matter in coal, as a substitute material for concrete production in the construction industry. 

The memorandum was signed by Unimas vice-chancellor, Prof Mohamad Kadim Suaidi and Faculty of Engineering Dean, Prof Dr Siti Noor Linda Taib, on behalf of the university, while Hornbill Networks Consortium was represented by its managing director, Hanizam Hashim and advisor, Kadier Sahib. – Bernama, July 17, 2023.