Rainwater buffer under paved area

Global warming is making sustainable stormwater management increasingly important. DS Smith Plastics brings Beaulex^® on the market, an efficient and sustainable solution to create rainwater buffers under paved surfaces.

It is now completely established that our climate is changing due to global warming. Weather phenomena are changing and it has been proven that they often become more intense. In our area this fortunately does not (yet) manifest itself in real severe weather, but all figures indicate that showers, for example, are often shorter but more intense. More water falls in a short period of time. Combined with increasing construction, this makes stormwater management increasingly important. Legislation and obligations regarding rainwater management are therefore also becoming more stringent. 

Beaulex consists of ingeniously designed hollow spheres 12.5 centimeters in diameter, made of recycled low-grade plastic.

Ingeniously designed hollow spheres
Beaulex is an efficient, sustainable and inexpensive solution for buffering rainwater under paved surfaces. The system consists of ingeniously designed hollow spheres, 12.5 centimeters in diameter, made of recycled low-grade plastic. Based on recycled polyolefins, such as polyethylene and polypropylene, these spheres are produced on a large scale via injection molding. They are then deposited in the construction pit on a layer of geotextile as a carpet pad for the paved surface. Once covered with another layer of geotextile and gravel, the perfect foundation for all types of paving is created. 

Thanks to the specific design of the bulbs, this creates a cavity between and within them with 80 percent free space. This means that each cubic meter of Beaulex can buffer up to 800 liters of water. Beaulex has many other advantages. For example, the surface does not necessarily have to be completely flat, as the shape of the bulbs allows them to spread naturally and create an even top surface. The system also does not need to be built up, so no detailed calculations are required beforehand. Simply pouring it is sufficient. The sidewalls also do not need to be finished as with other systems and therefore less geotextile is often needed. 

Once underground, the system is also perfectly safe for nature and requires no maintenance.

The most sustainable solution
The overriding advantage of Beaulex is that it is the most sustainable solution. The bulbs are made on the basis of so-called post consumer plastics. This is a collective name for a set of polyolefins that are recycled from various waste streams. A good example are the windows in envelopes. When paper is recycled, they are removed and processed separately. Due to their low-grade properties, these plastics can rarely be functionally reprocessed. Beaulex offers a useful solution for this by completing the recycling circle. 

Based on the injection molding mold and DS Smith's extensive network, the bulbs can be produced locally anywhere in the world.

Once underground, the system is also perfectly safe for nature and requires no maintenance. Its lifespan is theoretically eternal. Finally, Beaulex's manufacturing process is also sustainable. Based on the mold for injection molding and DS Smith's extensive network, the bulbs can be produced locally anywhere in the world. Especially for large infrastructure projects, this can reduce transportation and CO₂-emissions significantly.