Recycling at Solo

PE is a 100% re-useable material and one of the easiest plastics to be recycled into new products, meeting todays circular economy directives and increasing demand from governments to consider our environmental impact.

PE has the ability to be easily modified on site. Cutting and jointing can be carried out in final positions using butt, electro-fusion or manual welding processes with the results being instant. No curing time is required, providing watertight seals.

PE’s stable nature gives it a very good compatibility rating with most chemicals and is resistant to strong acids and bases as well as gentle oxidants and reducing agents.

Research has shown that PE has the best tolerance and lowest failure rate of all pipe materials to shakes from ground movement¹. This is of particular important to New Zealand, where typically over 15,000 earthquakes are recorded every year and locals councils have to budget for failure rates.

PE smooth internal walls provide superb hydraulic performance with a Manning’s Coefficient value of 0.009 (concrete 0.013) and a Ks value 0.03mm (concrete 0.15mm). This flow characteristic and low abrasion resistance supports less fixed biomass growth compared to other pipe materials^2,3.

PE is an incredibly stable material and has a working lifespan in excess of 100 years. Linked with its recycling ability, when the materials reaches its end of life it can be chipped, re-extruded into pellets then used to create new pipes or new products which will last another 100 years.

Recent studies have drawn comparisons of the emissions created to produce large diameter concrete and PE pipes. It was found that on average, concrete produced 21% more green house gas emissions during the production process and 95% more emissions when transported from the production facility to site. PE pipes therefore have the potential to aid the construction industry meet their reduction in green house gas emission targets.⁴

Typical installation times for PE pipes is approximately 30% faster than that of traditional concrete⁵. This time saving increases as the diameter increases, where the weight of concrete prohibits the length of each section that can be manufactured. Typically PE is supplied in 6m or pre-welded 12m sections as opposed to concrete’s 2.4m, meaning less jointing is required. Reduced install times also reduces Health and Safety risks – less staff are required for less time in trenches or confined space environments.

PE has a degree of flexibility, and will deflect when subjected to external loads from traffic or soil settlement, carrying less crown loading. Other more rigid materials have to fully carry this external load through their pipe walls into the bedding material. A flexible pipe is less stiff than the surrounding soil, so when buried, the column of soil over the flexible pipe settles more than the columns of soil to the sides. The effect of this is that the flexible pipe will deflect on loading, but will also tend to shed load away from itself.

PE pipes are significantly lighter than concrete resulting in easier transfer, loading and unloading costs. Smaller cranes mean project savings.