Reusing Plastic Waste in Road Construction – Is That Possible?

Of course, it is possible!???

Shredded plastic waste collected from every source is melted over heated stones before mixing the plastic-coated stones with hot bitumen. This mixture is used in asphalt-concrete based roads.??

Now that every Indian state has mapped its sustainability plans to recycle and reuse plastics as per the EPR for plastic waste rule, West Bengal has decided to reconstruct 22 km of road with non-recyclable plastic waste.

From Plastic Waste to Asphalt-Made Roads

Yes, you just heard that right!?

Recently, the Panchayat and Rural Development Department (P&RD) of West Bengal has planned to rebuild the roads in six districts. They include- Birbhum (5.907km), East Burdwan (2340 m), Murshidabad (5.907 km), Howrah (1.558 km), Purulia (3 km), and Jalpaiguri (5 km).?

The non-compostable plastic waste is often left abundantly and becomes an unnecessary burden for the ecosystem. Whereas, by breaking down the non-recyclable plastic particles into microplastics, these materials turn out to be a perfect catalyst for road construction due to certain reasons.

Let’s check out some of those.

Paved Roads – Reshaping Damaged Roadways?

The P&RD officials chose to use plastic waste to reshape the damaged district roads to fulfil a two-way effort. First of all, recycling the abundant plastic waste as per EPR for plastic waste management guidelines will encourage the plastic recycling rate in Bengal.?

Secondly, reusing plastic waste by treating it as plastic-modified bitumen enhances overall road quality.

The P&RD authority of West Bengal has further confirmed the following data for implementing this innovative means to construct durable roads. They include –

• 59 plastic management units are already functional out of 148 units, which are dedicated to road construction?
• Every ULB (Urban Local Body) will encourage the use of non-recyclable plastic waste as per Indian Road Congress guideline?
• Every district must use around plastic waste for mixing it with hot bitumen for road revamping?
• Every tender-holder working on this project must purchase plastic waste from Plastic Waste Management unit in the district

Conclusion

The hard-to-recycle plastics are a critical menace to our ecosystem. They can be reused by treating those as per EPR for plastic waste management rule for road construction and repair work.?

Such utilities of non-compostable plastic waste can assure plastic carbon footprint-free Earth.?

After all, it’s our only hope for pushing India towards Net Zero emissions!?