Ecopetrol: Ecopetrol Group and El Dorado Airport inaugurate the first road section paved with recycled plastic

The Ecopetrol Group and the El Dorado Airport inaugurated this Thursday the first road section paved with modified asphalt that contains recycled plastic, under the standards established by the regulations in force in the country for these works.

In the paving of the section, located in the vicinity of the air terminal, an asphalt mixture was used containing 125,000 plastic bags, one of the products that generates the greatest contamination in ecosystems and of low use in recycling processes due to its difficult recovery. .

This initiative was possible thanks to the participation of MPI, a specialized company that developed for a year the formulation to add recycled plastic to asphalt. Reciclene, a Plastilene Group company, also participated, classifying and processing recycled plastic at its post-consumer plant to obtain a product in the required conditions of use.

In the coming months, the paving of other roads will continue with this technique, including internal corridors of Ecopetrol’s Barrancabermeja Refinery and operating roads in the Rubiales field, as well as works managed by the Bogotá Road Maintenance Unit. – UMV and other road concessions in different parts of the country.

“We are pleased to be pioneers in Colombia in the application of this type of asphalt, which is friendlier to the environment and meets the highest quality standards. Our goal is to massify its use on the country’s roads and continue working so that our products are increasingly sustainable and our activities incorporate circular economy processes that ensure efficient and responsible use of our resources,” said Felipe Bayón, president of the Group. Ecopetrol.

Among the benefits of this technique, the reduction in the volume of plastic that reaches water sources and landfills stands out. The strengthening of the collection chain and the work of recyclers is also expected, by promoting waste plastic as a good that generates value.

Additionally, the incorporation of recycled plastic to the asphalt improves the mechanical properties of the product, by optimizing its quality according to high performance criteria, that is, it supports heavy traffic, has greater durability compared to traditional mixtures and resists high temperatures in the via.

“Working together with Ecopetrol, more than an alliance, is a commitment to promote the circular economy from the business sector to continue caring for and conserving the planet. From now on, Opain will focus on making quarterly measurements to analyze the behavior of this pavement and thus include it in the periodic maintenance of the asphalt of the road network surrounding El Dorado and the taxiways that are part of the concession area. With this, we hope in the near future that the plastic waste generated in the air terminal will be part of the modified asphalt mixture that will be used in El Dorado”, said Mauricio Ossa, president of Odinsa and of the Board of Directors of Opain.

The Ecopetrol Group works to guarantee the availability of this product in the market, through plants that are already in operation, such as Reciclene, or that are close to starting activities, such as Esenttia, a subsidiary of the Group.

This last plant will come into operation in the second half of 2023 and will have a capacity of 12,000 tons per year to process recycled plastic resins such as polypropylene and polyethylene, among others.