It's just plastic, it's fantastic: Use of plastic waste in road construction made mandatory by Govt

It is now mandatory for road developers in the country to use plastic waste in bituminous road constructions within the periphery of 50 kilometers of any city with a population of over 5 lakh.

The government mentioned in it’s recently released guidelines that in a case where there is no availability of waste plastic, the developer has to seek for the Road Transport and Highways Ministry’s approval for constructing only bitumen roads. The Economic Times quoted a government official saying, “Urban local bodies, which are usually short of financial resources, can make money by selling the plastic waste generated by cities to road developers. They can signs memorandums of understanding with the road construction companies.”

This is a move to reduce the burgeoning problem of disposal of plastic waste in India’s urban centres, reported the paper.

Earlier in November, Fusion.net reported that a similar enterprise is underway in Bhutan, The Green Road project that uses the country’s plastic waste in road construction. Fusion.net reported that the project pioneer in Bhutan, Rikesh Gurung, predicts that the plastic roads would not require maintenance for at least five years.

According to Citizen Matters , in the last 14 years, one of the only patented plastic waste managements companies is KK Plastic Waste Management Pvt. Ltd. The representatives of the company lamented that up until now not much stock had been taken by the government with regard top this technology. The Economic Times report says that India generates 56 lakh tonne of plastic waste annually.

According to a study done by the Central Pollution Control Board, 60 largest cities in India generate over 15,000 tonnes of plastic waste every day. This initiative by the government could go long way in making the country ‘greener’. This move is also expected to be cost effective for road developers as well.