Singapore road construction firms face delays, rising costs amid bitumen shortage

“Bitumen comes from crude oil, plastics also come from crude oil,” said the firm’s co-founder Oh Shu Xian.

“The idea is that because we are already generating this plastic as waste, it is something that we can then recover and then reverse engineer it back into another crude oil derivative and use it again in a second life,” she added.

“With traditional industries, I guess a lot of the processes have been tried and tested for a long period of time, so there’s a more conservative nature in terms of trying things that are new.”

But she noted that the supply crunch has created an opening for newer and more resilient alternatives.

For now, Magorium’s material still needs to be blended with traditional bitumen to meet Singapore’s road specifications.

However, the firm said it is continuing its research and development efforts to eventually create a standalone substitute.