Lockerbie Based ‘plastic road’ company to open US factory

Dumfries and Galloway -based ‘plastic road’ company MacRebur is set to expand into the United States with the opening of its first factory there.

The company – whose products are made from non-recyclable waste plastics that were destined for landfill or incineration –  will be opening its first stateside factory in Florida, with plans to put in place further manufacturing licensing agreements (MLAs) to expand its reach.

MacRebur’s US operations will see the company working with national construction businesses as well as asphalt manufacturers, bitumen producers and pre-blenders.

Toby McCartney CEO of the Company Told DGWGO Business News : “Plastic packaging is a huge problem in the US, and a main contributor to the 80 million tonnes worth of waste being produced every year. This troubling statistic presents us with an obvious opportunity to offer a green alternative to a growing problem.”

MacRebur takes waste plastic destined for landfill or incineration and adds it into asphalt for road construction and surfacing to extend and enhance the bitumen binder.

Mr McCartney continued: “The US has around 4,071,000 miles of roads, so as we see it, MacRebur products could be the single biggest solution to the US plastics problem.

“With each km of road laid using our MacRebur product, we use up the equivalent weight of 740,541 one-time use plastic bags – or put another way, one tonne of MacRebur mix contains the equivalent of 80,000 plastic bottles.”

In the UK, MacRebur technology has been used by businesses including Tesco, Asda and Arla. MacRebur is also working with Cumbria County Council on a £1.6m plastic roads project.

MacRebur already has clients in the US ready to start using its products once the factories are up and running.

Toby alos said “MacRebur offers the perfect green alternative for construction companies and businesses in the US wishing to add environmental credentials to their builds,” said McCartney. “All of our products meet various worldwide roads standards and have been rigorously tested against standard asphalt, bitumen and Polymer Modified Bitumen. The US is at crisis point for its plastic waste, and we’re ready to offer a solution.”

MacRebur’s US operations will see the company working with national construction businesses as well as asphalt manufacturers, bitumen producers and pre-blenders.