Inauguration of the cycle path in Zwolle
Zwolle and Giethoorn , two towns in the province of Overijssel located about 100 and 120 kilometers northeast of amsterdam , have carved a niche for themselves on the world map of recycling and the fight to take care of the environment.
And it is that for a few months they each have a 30-meter bike lane made from recycled plastic. With both recycled plastic and the equivalent of 218,000 cups or 500,000 plastic caps.
In fact, each of the components that make up these bike lanes has been designed with use as much recycled plastic as possible, that which today is still treated as waste in landfills or incinerated. The objective is that the rails themselves they can be recycled in the future to end up becoming elements of future roads or new plastic lanes.
Internal structure of one of the bike lanes
Similar in appearance to what we are used to seeing, these bike lanes are made up of prefabricated modules, which facilitates and simplifies its construction and maintenance. This together with the figures that KWS, Wavin and Total, the creators of PlasticRoad, shuffle about its lightness (up to four times less weight) , your longest life expectancy (up to three times longer) and 70% less time needed to build it they make their carbon footprint less than that of conventional structures.
In addition, the rails have a practically hollow interior , which makes it possible to use this space to place cables and pipes and take advantage of it for drain rainwater preventing flooding.
The pioneer in incorporating this initiative into the life of its city has been ** Zwolle .** The bike lane was installed on 11 of September from last year on Deventerstraatweg between Lindestraat and Verenigingstraat. It is equipped with sensors that allow monitoring its operation for information on things like how hot it gets, how many cyclists ride it, and its healthy life expectancy. A smart bike lane? Yes too.
the of Giethoorn , a town about 45 kilometers north of Zwolle, arrived in November to be located next to the N334 provincial road. It is also being monitored and with the data obtained from both in the next five years it will be possible to continue with the development of this project to finally achieve a significant introduction in the market.
Meanwhile, the three driving companies seek locations for new pilot projects that allow them to test other applications of this system, such as parking lots, platforms or sidewalks.