A SURE-FOOTED solution to accessing environmental education in Yorkshire has been made possible with boardwalks ‘more sustainable than wood’ – made entirely from recycled plastic carrier bags and bottles.
A 30m-long walkway, 6m bridge and pond dipping platform built from Centriforce recycled plastic posts and planks are supporting safe and slip-free fieldwork by students visiting the pioneering Carlshead Farm near Wetherby.
Consultant ‘Environments for People’ designed and built the boardwalks to facilitate educational visits by local primary and special needs schools, providing raised access across boggy ground and a low-lying platform for pupils to get up close and safely explore pond wildlife.
Using recycled plastic profiles instead of wood provided a more durable and maintenance-free solution that was also more practical to design and build, Hugh Roberts from Environments for People told The Landscaper
“Unlike the wooden alternative, Centriforce planks have a slip-resistant and splinter-free surface, and don’t need to be fixed with chicken wire or nails. So the children have a safe platform to walk, or even to lie on to investigate wildlife habitats.”
Centriforce recycled plastic posts and bearers are built to form the base structure of the walkways. The plank-like decking is laid on top and finished with an edging strip. Manufactured from 100% HDPE post-consumer waste, the recycled plastic profiles can be drilled and sawn like timber and designed into any shape.
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Based in Liverpool, Centriforce Products Limited is the UK’s largest independent recycler of plastic waste into end-use products. The Company manufactures high performance recycled products from plastic waste such as plastic bottles, carrier bags and transportation packaging – waste that would otherwise be sent to landfill sites.