The École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS), City of Montréal, Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ), Éco Entreprises Québec (ÉEQ) and RECYC-QUÉBEC have released the details of a major partnership they say will support research on innovative applications that integrate recycled glass in road construction.
This common commitment will provide ÉTS with $450,000 in funding over three years to conduct studies and laboratory tests on road infrastructures. The Mitacs-Accélération intern program will contribute $220,000 more to that amount. The research project will focus on developing materials that are more durable and environmentally friendly while giving a second life to the glass containers Quebecers place in recycling bins. Test slabs offered by the City of Montréal will allow for evaluating the performance of asphalt mixes containing recycled glass.
Michel Vaillancourt and collaborators Alan Carter and Daniel Perraton, all professors at École de technologie supérieure, will look into how post-consumer glass components affect the performance of asphalt mixes and other materials used in road construction.
The research team expects that the glass integrated in asphalt will improve drainage and insulation qualities, therefore resulting in a longer service life for roads. In addition, at the end of the project, ÉTS expects that integrating glass will help reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generated during asphalt manufacturing. Those are only a few of the points currently under study by the ÉTS research team.
