Recycled plastic railway sleepers for mainline, metro, and industrial rail applications. Durable, sustainable, maintenance-free.
Railway sleepers are a critical but often overlooked infrastructure component — supporting rail, maintaining gauge, and distributing train loads into the ballast for the entire service life of the track. Traditional timber sleepers decay, split, and leach chemicals into the environment, requiring cyclical replacement that disrupts operations and drives ongoing cost.
WireCo, through Lankhorst Engineered Products (EP), manufactures recycled plastic railway sleepers that eliminate the maintenance and environmental liabilities of timber — while matching or exceeding its structural performance. Lankhorst EP sleepers are made from post-consumer and post-industrial recycled plastic waste, transforming a disposal problem into a 50+ year infrastructure asset.
Installed on mainline railways, metro systems, and industrial rail networks across Europe and beyond, Lankhorst EP sleepers are approved by major rail authorities and backed by decades of in-track performance data.
The problems WireCo products are engineered to solve.
Lankhorst EP railway sleepers are manufactured from recycled plastic using a proprietary process that produces a dense, homogeneous material immune to rot, insect attack, and moisture absorption. With a design life exceeding 50 years and zero maintenance requirements, they eliminate the cyclical replacement costs of timber.
Lankhorst EP sleepers are designed as a direct dimensional replacement for standard timber sleepers — compatible with existing rail fastening systems, ballast profiles, and installation equipment. Rail operators can replace timber sleepers with recycled plastic on a like-for-like basis without track redesign or specialized tooling.
Each Lankhorst EP sleeper diverts approximately 60 kg of recycled plastic from landfill. The product contains no hazardous chemicals, produces no leachate, and is itself fully recyclable at end of life. Independent lifecycle assessments confirm a significantly lower carbon footprint compared to both timber and concrete alternatives.
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Recycled plastic sleepers for mainline, metro, and industrial rail applications.
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