Alex Fraser has supplied its Green Roads Construction Materials to hundreds of projects throughout Melbourne and Brisbane. Image: Alex Fraser
Alex Fraser is a leader in infrastructure sustainability. Quarry learns how innovation and investment are shaping its operations.
Recycled materials may be a hot topic within the construction sector, but they define Alex Fraser’s past, present, and future.
From humble beginnings as metal traders in the 1800s, Alex Fraser has evolved to become recognised as one of Australia’s leading providers of sustainable construction materials. The company recycles millions of tonnes of material every year and supplies major projects around the country with a greener way to build Australia’s cities.
The company produces more than three million tonnes per annum of recycled roadbase, asphalt, aggregates, and sand derived from materials recovered through its Victorian and Queensland recycling facilities.
Quarry spoke to Alex Fraser’s managing director, Peter Murphy, about the company’s network of recycling and asphalt facilities and its impact on the broader policy changes driving the demand for recycled materials.
POLICY INNOVATION
In the past few years, significant improvements have been made to the way major asset owners in Australian cities plan for infrastructure sustainability on major projects, as governments at all levels recognise recycled materials as a viable alternative.
Alex Fraser’s reputation for quality products, alongside broader policy changes, has been a key driver in the wider adoption of recycled materials.
Victoria’s Big Build, responsible for more than 100 major road and rail projects, led to the development of the revolutionary Recycled First Policy. Announced in 2020, Recycled First was designed to increase the use of recycled materials in the Victorian Government’s transport infrastructure projects. The policy strongly encourages and incentivises the use of circular materials on government infrastructure projects. Companies wanting to be part of the Big Build had to detail how they would implement recycled materials in their works while maintaining specifications in their bids.
Alex Fraser has invested strongly in its facilities. Image: Alex Fraser
EcologiQ has supported the initiative through ongoing education and industry engagement, resulting in a significant shift towards prioritising the use of circular materials.
“Recycled First will boost the demand for reused materials right across our construction sector,” said Premier Jacinta Allan, Victorian Transport Minister at the time.
Through the implementation of the policy, Alex Fraser, with its Green Roads Construction Materials, was well-positioned to supply quality, recycled construction materials and support Victoria’s Big Build.
As a result of the Recycled First policy, the company supplied more than 465,000 tonnes of its Green Roads Construction Materials to Victoria’s Big Build in 2023 alone.
The company has supplied recycled construction materials to an expansive list of projects including the Level Crossing Removal Projects and Victoria’s Big Build, including the Sunbury and Epping Road redevelopments.
For the recently completed Sunbury Road upgrade, Green Roads Asphalt, containing up to 40 per cent recycled materials, was supplied from Alex Fraser’s Northern Sustainable Supply Hub.
The company estimates the resurfacing project used more than 20 million recycled glass bottles, and more than 12,000 tonnes of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) that has reduced carbon emissions by 585,000 kilograms.
“The Sunbury Road Upgrade is the latest example of how Victoria is finding practical ways to use recycled products in volume to build quality, greener infrastructure,” Murphy said.
Specifications that clearly and simply support the use of recycled materials have proven to be critical to standardising the industry’s uptake of circular construction products. In the 1990s, VicRoads developed a specification acknowledging the use of recycled alternatives to quarried roadbase and virgin asphalt. As a result, proactive governments, councils and contractors were motivated to explore and innovate on their projects with recycled construction materials that would deliver further sustainability outcomes.
Similar updates to the Queensland Transport and Main Roads Specifications have recently been enacted, resulting in immediate impact on the major projects space with the state’s biggest infrastructure project – Cross River Rail – opting to use Green Roads recycled aggregates and roadbase in the project.
UPSCALING THE HUB
Few companies have invested as many resources into innovating recycled materials as Alex Fraser. The company recently bolstered its recycling network around Melbourne with a new high-volume crushing plant in Epping, which will provide recycled material for the neighbouring asphalt facility and infrastructure projects in Melbourne.
The new plant represents a $13 million investment in the company’s Northern Sustainable Supply Hub. It will process one million tonnes of recycled material per annum, ranging from paddock rock to RAP.
Those materials will be used to produce high-recycled sustainable asphalt, containing up to 70 per cent recycled materials at the company’s co-located asphalt plant.
“We continue to focus on maximising our recycling capability to ensure the construction market can rely on us to deliver a consistent and reliable supply of quality recycled materials to their projects, from municipal works to subdivisional developments and major infrastructure projects,” Murphy said.
“The Northern Sustainable Supply Hub in Epping is situated in close proximity to the northern suburbs growth corridor providing developers with an ideal solution to responsibly dispose of paddock rock, and to buy sustainable construction materials needed to complete their projects.”
Alex Fraser is considered one of the leaders in infrastructure and sustainability. Image: Alex Fraser
The three-stage crushing plant combines a robust primary impact crusher, a secondary crusher and a tertiary crusher to achieve product specifications. The new facility is fitted with the latest automation, monitoring systems and advanced controls to ensure operational safety and efficiency.
“Stage two of the project will bring in advanced processing methods to recycle concrete and brick. The introduction of artificial intelligence and robotics will enhance material identification and sorting accuracy, while reducing risk exposure for our people,” Murphy said.
It follows the launch of the company’s newest asphalt plant, commissioned in early 2023 and designed as a fully integrated solution to operate in partnership with the company’s pre-existing construction and demolition recycling plant.
The $15 million Benninghoven asphalt plant produces high-recycled, Green Roads asphalt mixes incorporating RAP, glass sand, recycled tyre products, and HDPE plastics.
Together, the company’s Sustainable Supply Hubs in Laverton and Epping, along with its stand-alone recycling facility in Clarinda, and asphalt plant in Dandenong play a leading role in Victoria’s circular economy.
Up north, Alex Fraser has long established recycling facilities top and tailing the Brisbane CBD. The Archerfield and Nudgee Recycling Facilities are ideally placed to support the sustainable growth and transformation of the city’s infrastructure landscape ahead of the 2032 Olympic Games.
An example of this capability is the state’s Cross River Rail project which is working closely with the sustainable materials provider to recover and recycle its demolition materials and reuse the resulting recycled aggregate and roadbase in its new build.
Alex Fraser’s sites have garnered awardwinning recognition from several key industry and stakeholder groups.
In 2020, the Victorian Government recognised Alex Fraser’s significant contribution to the state with a Premier’s Sustainability Award.
“Victoria continues to lead the way in recycling and reuse of valuable materials,” Murphy said.
“Alex Fraser’s Sustainable Supply Hubs and the Victorian Government’s Recycled First Policy are two key levers behind the state’s shift towards circularity in construction.”
For more information, visit alexfraser.com.au.
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