MBA aspirant sources waste plastic to help make sturdier roads

“I pick up the lakhs of plastic bags that cannot be recycled. This includes non-woven polypropylene material (from which shoe bags are made) and other discarded plastic,” he says. “We take most kinds of plastic except PVC,shred it and supply it to the government contractor,who then adds it to the hot mix used to make roads.”

Surrounded by zillions of shredded plastic pieces neatly stacked up,Gupta is Delhi’s only approved plastic waste modifier; CRRI holds the patent for the technology of constructing ‘plastic roads’.

Dr Sangeeta of CRRI says: “We are resurfacing roads in East Delhi,near the Loni border,and the Karkardooma courts. This is the biggest road project involving plastics in the Capital so far. CRRI has patented the technology to construct roads with plastic waste. The plastic is added to a hot mix outside Delhi and then brought in. Earlier,this technology was not used so widely here.”

Listing the benefits of using this technology,she says,“In Bangalore,at least 500 kilometres of road have been made with this technology. Adding plastic to the mix makes the roads more durable. We are anticipating that this technology will be used by PWD for all roads in Delhi — it may also be possible to fill potholes with this mix.”

The hot mix,not allowed to burn in Delhi,was earlier made in Dhansa near the Delhi-Haryana border. Now,with increased demand,it is made in Noida.

“In 2007,we made road number 43 in Rani Bagh,near Pitampura,with this technology. Now,it is proliferating. I don’t want to do this forever but I wanted to get involved in finding a solution to the waste plastic problem.”

Using plastic in road construction is in keeping with the High Court order that had asked authorities to explore innovative ways to use plastic while banning plastic bags. Following this,the Delhi government’s Department of Environment had written to the PWD and the CPWD to utilise waste plastic in constructing roads.