ROAD surface material being used to fill pot holes that contain plastic is going to be investigated by Wiltshire Council to see if the technology could be used on the county’s roads.

Cllr Brian Mathew proposing his motion to a full council meeting on May 22 said: “Parts of our planet are starting to drown under a sea of waste plastic, and with UK waste plastic no longer going to China for recycling, we have to find another way and find a use for this material here at home.

“What is less known is that it is already underway in the UK.

“And if this was extended to all local authority areas, a productive use for as much as 60,000 tonnes of waste plastic could be found each year in UK roads.”

Four local authorities in the UK are already using plastic waste on a regular basis in their roads programmes, and studies have found that it increases the life span of the road.

However, during the full council meeting Cllr Bridget Wayman said that the council had already looked into the technology and found that its use did not always result in increased lifespan.

The motion has been passed to the overview and scrutiny committee to assess its use in Wiltshire.