Millions of tonnes of sandstone taken from underneath Sydney’s WestConnex are being repurposed to build parts Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport, including construction of the runway.
The agreement between the two mega-projects will mean 4.5 million tonnes of sandstone will be used at the airport.
Since March, 983,000 tonnes of aggregate sandstone has already been delivered to the site and will also be used on construction of taxiways and roads on the Western Sydney International site.
The sandstone is being extracted from two of the WestConnex tunnelling sites, the M4-M5 Link and the Rozelle Interchange.
Minister for Population, Cities and Urban Infrastructure Alan Tudge said it was an exciting, innovative and sustainable agreement between two game-changing projects.
“This sort of innovation is not only environmentally and economically beneficial but helps progress two mega projects that are creating thousands of jobs,” Minister Tudge said.
“Western Sydney International is one the biggest earthmoving projects in Australian history and recycling the sandstone from the WestConnex tunnels helps deliver world-class infrastructure.”
Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley said the opportunity to reuse resources across the projects and recycle the sandstone at the airport helps the environment and conserves Australia’s precious resources.
“Construction and demolition waste is an increasing issue in Australia as our cities and towns grow so it is wonderful to see a practical on the ground solution for the reuse of this sandstone between the projects,” Minister Ley said.
“It makes both economic and environmental good sense.
“The Australian Government is strongly commmited to significantly increasing the use of recycled content by both governments and industry.”
The high-quality sandstone is used as a supportive layer beneath the runway, taxiways and roads.
This sustainability initiative provides an innovative option to reuse resources and increase efficiency across both projects.
Western Sydney’s population is expected to grow by one million people by the early 2030s and projects like Western Sydney International and WestConnex will support the growing population.
Western Sydney International is being delivered through a $5.3 billion Australian Government investment and remains on track to commence operations in 2026.
