Page 49 - Plastics News December 2016

FEATURES 10

INDIA 2017

International Plastics Exhibition & Conference

Where the future of plastic is...
JAN 2017
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and roughly half are in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. on roads in the Middle East. But even in the US, cost is a

Most are rural roads, but a small number have also been significant barrier.

built in cities such as Chennai and Mumbai. The most widely used polymer, styrene-butadiene-styrene,

Adding flexible materials to strengthen tar The plastic waste items can increase the price of a road by 30-50%.
that can be used for
roads is not a new idea. Commercially made road construction are In India, high-stress roads like runways and
polymer-modified asphalts first became expressways are increasingly using polymer
popular in the 1970s in Europe. Now, North various items like plastic modified asphalts made by manufacturers
America claims 35% of the global market. carrybags, plastic cups, like DuPont.

Modified asphalts are made from virgin plastic packaging for While polymer roads in the US are

polymers and sometimes crumb rubber potato chips, biscuits, made with asphalt that comes pre-

(ground tires). They are highly versatile: chocolates, etc. m i x e d w i t h a p ol y m e r, p l a st i c t a r

Illinois uses them to build high-traffic roads are a frugal invention, made with a

truck roads, Washington State uses them for noise discarded, low grade polymer.
reduction and in rural Ontario they are used to prevent
roads from cracking after a harsh winter. Polymerized India’s road upgrade is long overdue. With so many
asphalts also tend not to buckle in extreme heat the way projects underway, the Indian government is looking to a

conventional roads do – plastic roads will not melt unless range of alternative materials to lower costs and hopefully

the temperature goes beyond 66C (150F), compared to all this helps to overcome the increasing problems of

50.2C (122.5F) for ordinary roads – and are frequently used disposal of plastic waste.

49 • December 2016 • Plastics News