Abertis recycles 80% of its waste and promotes the circular economy

Abertis is making progress in promoting the circular economy, one of the main pillars of its sustainability strategy, which will extend until 2030. Following this roadmap, the group already recycles 80% of its waste, thanks to improvements in the sorting and recycling processes resulting from highway management. Along these lines, the company has deployed an environmental management system across all its business units, which allows for monitoring the management of each type of waste and aims to maximize its recycling rate. This has involved installing collection points for conventional and hazardous waste in many of the maintenance areas of the various highways. New contracts have also been awarded to companies specializing in waste management in several countries. Pavement with plastic, pine resin, and other recycled materials

Another of Abertis's key priorities is the use of recycled materials and the reuse of milled material in pavements, without compromising the durability and safety of the infrastructure. The initiative the group has been promoting since 2022 through the JEPL concession in India stands out, involving the use of pavement made with recycled plastic. This option reduces environmental impact, improves surface grip, stability, and flexibility, provides greater durability, extends the lifespan of roads, and reduces the amount of asphalt needed for road construction, thus boosting efficiency.

Abertis is also promoting the incorporation of other recycled materials in its highways, such as rubber in Brazil and Mexico, plant resins in France, and recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) in Italy, France, Chile, and Brazil. Specifically in Spain, Autopistas, the Abertis Group's subsidiary in the country, has launched a pilot project for the reuse and recycling of asphalt on its roads. This initiative, carried out in collaboration with the PADECASA Chair at Alfonso X el Sabio University, involves the construction of a test section where asphalt from milled layers requiring renewal is reused and recycled at different rates or percentages, with the aim of analyzing and validating its performance.

All these projects, which are part of Abertis' sustainability plan – aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change and promoting the circular economy – enable the reuse of milled material waste and encourage the consumption of new materials.

Abertis' Director of Sustainability, Georgina Flamme, states that "recycling materials has become vitally important, especially in paving work, as it involves a higher consumption of materials." She adds that this is why they are making "a strong commitment to promoting the use of recycled options in most of the countries" where they operate, "with innovative proposals that maintain the same performance and lifespan as conventionally reconstructed pavement." "We share the results with all our business units to promote these new approaches and replicate them throughout our road network." In 2023, Abertis achieved Science Based Targets (SBT) status for its greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, confirming, with scientific criteria, that its carbon footprint reduction objectives—including circular economy emissions and green energy—are aligned with the Paris Agreement.