A New Zealand businessman says his bitumen product is aimed at the Pacific market where energy costs are high.
Bhaskar Sharmar of Alrite International Limited says sealing roads in remote areas is made more difficult by the logisitics of transporting large quanitites of bitumen and then having to heat it.
He says the plastic-lined, cardboard carton he's designed gives Pacific countries more access to the material.
"I've been in the industry for a while and I looked at how we could resolve the issues pertaining to bitumen. We developed a 20kg carton which is very easy to handle and also easy to take off-island and also reduces the heating and energy cost by up to 40 to 50 percent."
Bhaskar Sharma says the saving is achieved by burning the packaging along with the bitumen.
He says another advantage of putting bitumen in cartons is their ability to be taken by barge to outlying islands.
