A little wonder, every day

Recycled books became part of the M6 Toll surface

documentary photograph of the M6 Toll southbound toll plaza at Weeford. Original page: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:M6_Toll,_southbound_toll_plaza_-_geograph.org.uk_-_7139872.jpg. Photographer: Christopher Hilton, 2 April 2022. License: CC BY-SA 2.0. Attribution: “M6 Toll: southbound toll plaza” by Christopher Hilton, via Geograph Britain and Ireland, CC BY-SA 2.0; unmodified.

documentary photograph looking south along the M6 Toll Northern Relief Road near Weedon Park Farm. Original page: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:M6_Toll_Northern_Relief_Road_-_geograph.org.uk_-_498286.jpg. Photographer: planetearthisblue, 18 July 2007. License: CC BY-SA 2.0. Attribution: “M6 Toll Northern Relief Road” by planetearthisblue, via Geograph Britain and Ireland, CC BY-SA 2.0; unmodified.

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documentary photograph of the M6 Toll southbound toll plaza at Weeford. Original page: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:M6_Toll,_southbound_toll_plaza_-_geograph.org.uk_-_7139872.jpg. Photographer: Christopher Hilton, 2 April 2022. License: CC BY-SA 2.0. Attribution: “M6 Toll: southbound toll plaza” by Christopher Hilton, via Geograph Britain and Ireland, CC BY-SA 2.0; unmodified.

Listen to fact0:00 / —

During construction of the M6 Toll motorway in Britain, about 2.5 million old books were pulped and used in preparing the road’s top layer. Many were Mills & Boon romance novels. According to the project manager from the company Tarmac, the paper pulp’s absorbency helped hold the road mix together. The books were one ingredient in the road surface, not the material for the entire motorway. [1, 2]