Recycled toilets have been flushing away the costs of new roads in Colorado Springs for the past eight years, with the porcelain material being reused as an aggregate for road base.
Aggregates from old toilets are being recycled into new roads for Colorado Springs, USA.
Colorado Springs Utilities has repurposed almost 50,000 toilets into road base since 2012.
Porcelain from the toilets is crushed down into aggregate that supplements the gravel that is laid down before the roads are paved.
Colorado Springs Utilities operations supervisor Sean Evans told Gazette.com the material is considered to be one of the best recycled aggregates, compared to recycled concrete and asphalt.
“It’s got great compaction qualities as a recycled product,” Evans said.
Despite an estimated 1.27 million kilograms of toilet porcelain salvaged, it only represented a small amount of the aggregates used by Colorado Springs annually.
Residents are being encouraged to drop off porcelain products, such as sinks and toilets, to the county’s hazardous waste facility.
“We want the community to know they can change out those high use water fixtures and not have to worry,” Evans said. “Bring that toilet to us and we’ll put it back into the infrastructure.”
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