Mildura manufacturer in railway sleeper breakthrough.

Mildura manufacturer, Integrated Recycling has won approval from Metro Trains Melbourne to trial its Duratrack composite recycled plastic sleeper on the Melbourne rail system.

“This follows hot on the heals of Queensland Rail Type Approval for mainline trials,” the company said.

At this stage, MTM will trial Duratrack at at last two sites in Melbourne over the next 18 Months.

Integrated Recycling is now building the first stage of a production line with a capacity to produce up to 80,000 recycled plastic railway sleepers per year.

Duratrack sleepers have already been installed on Queensland’s Helidon to Gatton mainline near Toowoomba, and the Mount Eliza crossing on the Mornington railway in Victoria.

In October the company received $330,000 from the Victorian government’s Resource Recovery Infrastructure Fund (RRIF) to further the Duractrack technology.

Two weeks ago it was awarded a $200,000 grant to support further research by Institute of Railway Technology (IRT).

The sleepers last three times longer than wooden alternatives and can be recycled, giving a lower total life cost. Every kilometre of Duratrack installed recycles 45 tonnes of waste plastic.

Picture: Integrated Recycling: Duratrack sleeper.

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