Plastic Waste to Plastic Roads, a better way to humanity

As we have seen in the past and even with Indian Prime Ministers call to ban all single use plastic back in 2018 and completely phasing it out of general use by 2022, the use of plastic has not stop and people all around the country have resisted this move. Though the authorities were strict in the beginning in enforcing the law, but as the time progressed they have not only forgotten about this or are not at all interested in controlling or stopping the use at all.

Now a days we see people freely asking for single use plastics and using them everywhere in the market, whether it is for buying household groceries, buying daily need supplies or any other thing for that matter of fact.

It seems that removing plastic completely from our lives would be next to impossible but to some extent it might be possible for government to phase out at least single use plastic. Today, more than 60 nations are engaged in a fight against plastic and are taking drastic measure to root it out from their country.

As of 2019, the world has recorded a total of 300 million tones of plastic waste is produced, which is nearly as much as the combined weight of the entire human population on this planet. It is also estimated the it will grow to a monstrous size of over 460 million tonnes by 2030.

Consumer plastic waste represents a serious problem that is damaging the environment and many species on the planet. Globally, more than 40 species of fish are known to consume plastic. Eventually, that plastic reaches human plates.

Packaging alone generates 141 million tonnes annually of single-use plastic waste, being responsible for almost half of global plastic waste. This is the sector which also uses the most plastic- 146 million tonnes per year, representing 42 percent of the global total.

Where does all this plastic waste go? Well, it's not very hard to imagine, just look outside your house, out on the street, landfill sites, in the water-bodies near you, like ponds, streams, rivers, ocean and a lot of times even in the drains of your colony. This not only create a problem for the nature but on the whole is dangerous for everyone including humans and animals all together. In the water bodies it is not only poisonous for fishes but is completely destroying the coral life in and around the coastal areas. When left in the open to decompose, it takes 100s of years if not 1000s to get degraded, leading to choking of drains and polluting the other areas and at many occasions gets eaten by cattle's resulting in poisoning and sometimes even death of the animal. Even if we burn it, we still cannot get rid of it completely, as it leave thick plastic residue along with polluting the air and making it poisonous.

Well, most people as if there any solution to this menace? Well to answer this, the first and for most thing that comes to our mind is why not recycle it. Well we can recycle the plastic but only to an extent and beyond that it just has to go to the dump. By dump, I mean to the garbage mountains outside your city(We are all aware how stinky and polluting to the nature and life it could be), sometimes even to the land fills(Where it pollutes the soul, making it Poisonous, infertile and releasing toxins to the adjacent water bodies and to the fertile soil around). Recently, new and advanced ways of handling plastic waste is using it for building structures of plastic which would not only do the optimum use of the waste but will also reduce the garbage from going into the land fills. In this blog, I will cover one of the main components which I found to be very useful in reducing the plastic waste in nature and making the best possible use of the waste without hurting the nature. Here we will cover in brief the plastic roads.

As per Wikipedia "Plastic roads are made entirely of plastic or of composites of plastic with other materials. Plastic roads are different from standard roads in the respect that standard roads are made from asphalt concrete, which consists of mineral aggregates and asphalt." These days, there are two types of plastic roads that are being constructed. The first one is "PlasticRoad", which consists of modular, hollow and prefabricated road elements made from consumer waste plastics and the second one is "Plastic Roads", consisting of an asphalt mix with plastic waste incorporated into the asphalt mixture.

Lets have a brief description of Plastic Roads- Plastic roads was first developed by Rajagopalan Vasudevan in 2001 and implemented the use of plastic waste on a road constructed inside the premises of his college in 2002, he made it with a combination of an asphalt mix with plastic waste incorporated into the asphalt mixture. The implementation of plastics in roads also opened a new option for recycling post consumer plastics. Australia, India, Indonesia, United Kingdom, the United States, and many other countries have used this technology and other technologies which can incorporate plastic waste into an asphalt mix.

PlasticRoad- In Netherlands, the pilot program that was carried out in the cities of Zwolle and Giethoorn. Zwolle is a city west from Amsterdam, reachable by train in just one hour. Zwolle is both historical and trendy. The city hosts one of the biggest markets in The Netherlands with 450 stalls. Art works from Dutch painters Vincent van Gogh and Piet Mondriaan delight art lovers who visit the Museum of Fundatie. It is here, in Zwolle, where the world's first plastic road prototype was built using recycled single-use plastic. The first internal trial was ready in 2016. For over a year, cars and small trucks drove over the small plastic road every day without presenting any difficulties. Finally, in 2018, Zwolle became the first official city in the world to have a truly plastic road. This was a result of collaboration between three companies, VolkerWessels, Wavin and Total. The "PlasticRoad" is completely different from normal plastic roads, as seen in the definition above. The "PlasticRoad" built by the three companies consists of prefabricated, hollow, modular elements made from consumer plastic waste, and is a unique innovation. The original idea for the PlasticRoad was invented by Simon Jorritsma and Anne Koudstaal but was inspired from the work that was being carried out in India. In 2015, the PlasticRoad concept was presented to the world with the goal of finding partners to bring the idea to reality. The PlasticRoad has a lot of advantages compared to normal roads, including hollow space for the storage of excessive rainwater, the light weight, and the sustainability benefits.

Credit: plasticroad.eu

Case in India

As per a report published in the month of July 2020, India has built over 1 lakh Km of plastic roads and aimed to double it by 2024. Union minister Nitin Gadkari had announced the usage of plastic waste in road construction in 2016. Since then, plastic waste has been used in constructing one lakh kilometre of road in 11 states. In this financial year, the figure will double, according to Hindustan.

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) used plastic waste in its roads for the first time in 2018. The MCG has now made the use of plastic waste mandatory in the construction of arterial roads.

Assam started using the waste material from this year.

Plastic has been used in the 270-kilometre-long Jammu Kashmir National highway. About 1.6 tonne of plastic waste was used in the two-kilometre-long stretch of Delhi-Meerut highway news UP Gate. It has also been used in constructing the road connecting Dhaula Kuan to the airport in Delhi. India generates at least 25,940 tonnes of plastic waste daily, equivalent to the weight of around 4,300 elephants. Of this, about 60% gets recycled, according to the Union environment ministry. The rest gets dumped in landfills, clogs drains, goes into the ocean as micro-plastics, or is burnt, leading to air pollution. In the absence of a proper waste management system, the plastics that get recycled are often dirty, which makes the re-cycling process water-intensive and expensive.

A Government order in November 2015 has made it mandatory for all road developers in the country to use waste plastic, along with bituminous mixes, for road construction. This is to help overcome the growing problem of plastic waste disposal in India. The technology for this was developed by the ‘Plastic Man’ of India, Prof Rajagopalan Vasudevan, Professor of Chemistry at Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai.

Plastic waste helps increase the strength of the road, reducing road fatigue. These roads have better resistance towards rain water and cold weather. Since a large amount of plastic waste is required for a small stretch of road, the amount of waste plastic strewn around will definitely reduce. Prof R Vasudevan’s inclination to keep experimenting led to another innovation. He decided to try creating a stone block with plastic coating and, in 2012, ‘plastone’ took birth. A plastone block is made from a mixture of waste plastic and stone. It has been found to withstand more pressure and it resists water percolation. In the professor’s department of chemistry they have made plastone blocks using granite and ceramic waste, along with plastic waste. Each plastone block consumes 300 plastic carry bags and around six PET bottles. Almost 10% of solid waste consists of used materials that can be broken into pieces and used in the making of plastone. Industrial slug can also be used in the process. One of the foremost advantages of plastone is its non-porous nature and the ability to prevent water penetration. Plastone can be used for flooring, especially outdoors. It can be a cheap and strong substitute for cement blocks, which have a tendency to wither away in constant rain. It can be an effective liner for water bodies, especially canals, preventing water seepage. It can also be used to raise compound walls. A coat of emulsion can be provided to make it colorful and attractive.

Process of Plastic Roads

The entire process is very simple. The plastic waste material is first shredded to a particular size using a shredding machine. The aggregate mix is heated at 165°c and transferred to the mixing chamber, and the bitumen is heated to 160°c to result in good binding. It is important to monitor the temperature during heating. The shredded plastic waste is then added to the aggregate. It gets coated uniformly over the aggregate within 30 to 60 seconds, giving an oily look. The plastic waste coated aggregate is mixed with hot bitumen and the resulting mix is used for road construction. The road laying temperature is between 110°c to 120°c. The roller used has a capacity of 8 tons.

This process has generated an additional job for rag pickers.

Building plastic roads the LEGO way: Advantages

It is a lightweight prefabricated construction that can be built pretty much the LEGO way. It is four times lighter than a traditional road structure.

Faster construction (months shorter) and less maintenance time.

Higher quality and a longer lifespan. It is homogeneous and prefabricated. The lifespan is two to three times longer than a traditional road paving.

Little to no maintenance required. The material is virtually impervious to conditions such as the weather and weeds.

The innovation is considerably more sustainable. The goal is to make the PlasticRoad out of 100 percent recycled plastic and to make it fully reusable. It is perfectly in line with the Cradle to Cradle philosophy and the principles of the circular economy.

Double use of space. The hollow space in the design can be used to store water or as space for cables and pipes.

The possibility of constant traffic safety and water drainage.

Everything on and around the road can be prefabricated including road markings and guardrails.

It is scalable. The concept offers opportunities for further innovation. Examples include solar heated roads, light poles, and traffic loop sensors.

A great added advantage is the contribution to the global social problem of plastic waste in an innovative and sustainable way.

Now, Lets cover some of the Advantages of these roads

In the model by Volkerwessels, plastic roads can have hollow space built in to allow ease of wiring, connecting pipes, etc.

Since plastics come with various chemical and physical properties, roads can be engineered to meet specific requirements (e.g. weather and wear resistance)

Plastic roads can be built from waste plastic, the majority of which is usually put into landfill, incinerated, or polluted into the environment. Land-filling and incinerating plastic are both problematic methods of managing plastic waste. Plastics in landfills can leak pollutants into the surrounding soil, incinerating creates gaseous pollutants, such as carbon dioxide.

Plastic-bitumen composite roads need not be especially discriminating with the plastics used, thus increasing the reuse of plastic. Most plastic waste is not recycled because it is usually mixed with different types of plastic and non-plastic (e.g. paper labels) and, so far, the segregation process is labor-intensive with no easy solution.

Using less asphalt saves on cost and resources. Asphalt concrete requires petroleum which is becoming more scarce.

The addition of plastic in asphalt can reduce the viscosity of the mix. This allows a lower working temperature, which lowers VOC and CO emissions.

Plastic-bitumen composite roads have better wear resistance than standard asphalt concrete roads. They do not absorb water, have better flexibility which results in less rutting and less need for repair. Road surfaces remain smooth, are lower maintenance, and absorb sound better.

On the other hand some of the disadvantages of these types of roads are-

Pure plastic roads require use of compatible plastics because, when melted, plastics of different types may phase-separate and cause structural weaknesses, which can lead to premature failure.

Plastics in the road can break down into microplastics and can find their way into the soil and bodies of water. These microplastics can also absorb other pollutants.

Every time maintenance is performed on these modular roads the flow of power, water, and internet that has been installed within will be interrupted.

Major Plastic Road construction is being done in many pars of the world. Over 60 countries are making progress in terms road construction, when it comes to the use of plastics. Lets cover two countries which have made a significant advancements in plastic road construction. First lets look at India, as India is considered to be the world leading when it comes to plastic road construction.

Chennai was among the first cities globally to adapt the technology in a big way when the municipality commissioned 1000 km of plastic roads in 2004. Since then all major municipalities in India have experimented with the technology including Pune, Mumbai, Surat, Indore, Delhi, Lucknow etc.

Chennai- While the plastic roads may be a new concept in many parts of India, Chennai has been experimenting with it since 2011. Chennai has used nearly 1,600 tonnes of plastic waste to construct 1,035.23 kilometres length of roads in recent years, which include N.S.C Bose road, Halls road, Ethiraj Silai Street and Sardar Patel Street.

Pune- Using bitumen technology on waste plastic, the Pune Municipal Corporation constructed a 150-metre stretch of Bhagwat lane at Navi Peth near Vaikunth Crematorium in 2016. The other trial patches in Pune include Dattawadi Kaka Halwai Lane, Katraj Dairy, Magarpatta City HCMTR Road, Kavde Mala Road, Koregaon Park Lane No 3 and Yeravada Sadal Baba Darga Road from Chandrama Chowk.

Jamshedpur- Jamshedpur Utility and Services Company (JUSCO), which is a subsidiary company of Tata Steel, constructed a 12-15 km road in the steel city as well as Tata Steel Works using plastic road, including a nearly 1 km stretch in Ranchi, 500m stretch each in Dhurwa and Morabadi, 3 km of roads in Chas and Jamtara each and 500m stretch in Giridih.

Indore- Dating 2014, the Madhya Pradesh Rural Road Development Authority (MPRRDA) has constructed around 35 km of roads in 17 districts with plastic waste.

Surat- The idea of using plastic-bitumen mix was executed in January 2017. The problem of potholes significantly reduced as no cracks developed in areas where roads were layered with waste plastic.

The technology has penetrated deeply and has found application even in far flung areas such as Meghalaya, where a village converted 430 kg of plastic waste into a kilometer long road in 2018.

In December 2019, India had built over 21,000 miles of roads using plastic waste. Till July 2020, the country has over 1 lakh km of plastic roadways that means every 1 km road uses 1 million plastic bags.

Now lets cover one of the most prominent countries in Europe. Lets look at United Kingdom and what all has been done or is being done.

In January 2019, the Department for Transport announced a £1.6 million UK trial of a plastic road technology developed by MacRebur, an asphalt enhancement company based in Scotland.

In MacRebur's process, anywhere between 3–10 kg of waste plastic is used in each ton of asphalt. The aim of the initiative is three-fold- first to use the millions of tons of plastic waste currently sitting in UK landfills, then to reduce the millions of pounds of government money spent on new roads, and then for maintenance, and pothole repair, and to make roads stronger and longer-lasting. MacRebur's technology includes the patent-pending MR6, MR8 and MR10, all of which use a carefully selected mixture of polymers, specifically designed to improve the strength and durability of asphalt and reduce the quantity of bitumen required in the mix. The polymers are made from 100% waste materials and are used in the making of both hot and warm mix asphalt. The method of manufacture for these polymers means they contain no microplastics.

This is just one way, there are project around the world where use of plastic is being used in as building material. Again, for the first time, usage of plastic in concrete was proposed by an India named Prabir Das in 2004. He suggested and carried out experiments to demonstrate the use of plastic in concrete for improving the strength and durability of concrete by using plastic.

On small scale there have been many small scale primary school and other government structures where plastic bottles have been used as masonry works for walls, also Plastic GRP sheets, door and windows or recycled plastic are easily available in the market for general public use.

At present, plastic waste might seem to be the biggest problem for everyone on the planet, but it is in our hand to move away from single use plastic and use the waste plastic in the best possible way by using it in different works rather thank throwing away in garbage dumping sites, or dumping it in landfills. Better use of the waste plastic will not only make the environment cleaner but will go a long way in sustaining the environment, wild life and a better and greener earth for all of us.

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