Guided busway to use 1.8m tyres

An artist's impression of the Cambridgeshire guided busway

A £116m guided busway in Cambridgeshire is using one and a half million recycled car tyres in a bid to help protect the environment.

The 16-mile (25km) busway, which links Huntingdon, St Ives and Cambridge, is due to be completed by next April.

To provide the guideway with good drainage shredded tyres are being used in space between the tracks, said Cambridgeshire County Council.

A mixture of soil, seed and ballast will then be added to help grass grow.

A variety of recycled materials that comply with highways regulations, including crushed glass, gravel, crushed concrete and rock, were all explored by BAM Nuttall, Cambridgeshire County Council's contractor, before they selected shredded tyres for the project.

Cambridgeshire councillor Matt Bradney, cabinet member for growth, said: "The environment has always been a major consideration of this project and this is yet another example of how we are using resources to their full potential.

"It may sound an unusual choice but tyres will provide fantastic drainage and are perfect for this purpose.

"Tyres are in plentiful supply locally, they must be recycled by law, and are therefore a very green choice."

About 40,000 cubic metres of tyres will be used for the construction of the guided busway.

European laws mean that standard tyres - which do not decompose - cannot be left in landfill sites and now have to be recycled.

The news follows Stagecoach's announcement that their new fleet of buses for the Guideway will run on 100% biofuel from sustainable recycled food waste.