The second project on the Eastern Line, saw the installation of 97 ECO RAIL sleepers and the behavior of these sleepers was monitored during installation and over a period of three months.
The aim of the PROJETO Eco Sustainable Rail was to find an alternative to wooden sleepers, and started in July 2016 and was concluded at the end of 2019.
The project included participation by the Polymer Engineering Innovation Center (PIEP), the Center for the Reuse of Waste (CVR), Extruplás and IP. Based on the skills and know-how of each of the partners, the goal was to design a sleeper which, on one hand complied with specific technical requirements for rail, while on the other hand would lead to the development of a production process adapted to recycling and reusing plastic waste.
In 2020, compound sleepers were installed on a track allowing compliance with the limits set out in ISO/DIS 12856, the International Standard for Plastic Railway Sleepers, to be proven under real conditions, after having been demonstrated at two separate laboratories.
On 28 March 2019, IP established a protocol with ECOPILHAS — Sociedade Gestora de Resíduos de Pilhas e Acumuladores, Lda. to create an internal network of used battery collection points which covers 23 IP facilities. However, this company ceased trading on 28 February 2020, and IP is currently analyzing the setting up of a new protocol with a different company which is regulated by Decree-Law No 152-D/2017 of 11 December.
In 2020, IP signed a Cooperation Protocol with PIEP Associação - Pólo de Inovação em Engenharia de Polímeros the main aim of which will be to develop a Circular Economy Roadmap for IP, including an analysis of the feasibility of incorporating waste and sustainable raw materials into road and rail activity.
Since 2011, whenever technically viable, the Public Procurement Code has required the use of 5% of recycled materials or products which incorporate recycled materials in relation to the total of raw materials used in construction and maintenance work on infrastructure.
For technical reasons, during the design stage it may not be possible to achieve any percentage of recycled materials or products which incorporate recycled materials, and this must be duly justified and sustained by the contractors for each material used. This requirement then passes to the execution stage.
Two examples of incorporating recycled materials in construction work:
- Iron incorporating 80% recycled material.
- 90% recycled rubber incorporated into Rosehill Rail level-crossing baseplates.
