Page 36 - Plastics News February 2018

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roads have to be repaired every two-three years, these would collect or purchase the plastic waste from the city
roads using plastic waste can be repaired every three-four and process it and the plant at Yerawada would process it
years, thereby reducing the recurrence of investment. without incurring any cost to the civic body. The Central
Such roads can withstand heavy rains and do not easily and state governments are also in favour of using the
get washed away, thereby preventing damages to roads," technology. Even it is considered that the use of plastic
said Dr Hemanth. waste along with tar helps to improve the durability and
PMC ‘s plan longevity of roads. The major benefit of it is that it will
help to reduce soil pollution and is considered to help in
Pune like other cities are making good use of plastic increasing water resistance.
waste. Making durable roads and it has proved to be a
popular solution to tackling waste also. The Pune Municipal Using plastic waste
Corporation (PMC) plans to construct 25km length of PMC with help from Dow Chemical International and Rudra
roads in the city by using the mixture of plastic waste. Environment is erecting the hot mix plant at Yerawada
Pune municipal commissioner Kunal Kumar said that the where plastic trash would be mixed with tar material. The
civic body has already carried out the pilot project of environmentally conscious approach to road construction
using mixture of plastic waste for road surfacing at at plastic litter was developed in India around 15 years ago
Navi Peth, Vimannagar and Koregaon Park. Having seen In November 2015, the Indian government has announced
the benefits of road resurfacing using plastic waste at that plastic roads would be the default method of
decided stretches, the civic body has decided to make at construction for most city streets. Urban areas with more
least 25-km-long road using the technology, said Kumar. than 500,000 people are now required to construct roads
The Indian Road Congress has also given its go ahead to using waste plastic with the project coming under the
use the technology for erecting roads. Kumar said that Swachh Bharat Abhiyan campaign. According to experts,
plastic waste generated in the city is a big headache for 90 per cent of bitumen is amalgamated with 10 per cent of
the municipal administration. The new technology will everyday plastic waste. These products are shredded into
help to sort out the problem of plastic trash in the city. small pieces and mixed with the liquid before laying it on
The plastic trash collected by rag pickers or PMC staff will the road. Tar-cum-plastic roads is 25 per cent better than
be utilised for mixture in the road material. Already, the unmodified roads and is almost 200 per cent resistant to
trials are successful.The PMC is also getting help from Dow soaking up water and durability is high. The maintenance
Chemical International and Rudra Environment for erecting cost of the road is very low.
the hot mix plant at Yerawada where plastic trash would
Each kilometre of a single-lane tar road can consume
one tonne of plastic waste, and the plastic can double or
even triple the life of the road, said the economist in her
paper Almitra Patel, a solid waste management expert.
India produces about 15,000 tonnes of plastic waste daily,
of which about 9,000 tonnes is recycled. The remainder
clutters landfills and clogs drains, and is blamed for urban
flooding.

The new infrastructure commitment gives fresh impetus.
With the growth in the industry we are going to be
generating waste plastic, and we are going to be building

be mixed with the tar material. The plastic waste tar roads for the foreseeable future. Why not use the method
material produced at the Yerawada hot mix plant would that does away with the plastic waste and makes the roads
be utilised on these proposed 25-km road. The company cheaper, durable and safer?"

Plastics News Feb ruar y 2018 36