‘Plastone,’ a value addition for the plastic road technology developed by the Centre for Studies on Solid Waste Management of the Thiagarajar College of Engineering here, is all set to become part of Swachh Bharat Mission with the Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation sanctioning a Rs. 17.16-lakh project to study the construction of low-cost hygienic rural toilet using pre-fabricated structure made up of waste plastic stone blocks.
The project will study the use of ‘Plastone,’ a sturdy block made with waste plastic and stone, in construction of low-cost toilets over a period of 12 months. “After laboratory tests, Plastone is ready for use in multiple applications. It can be used as a substitute for cement blocks and bricks. Plastone is ‘synthetic granite’ but stronger than granite,” said R. Vasudevan, the leader of the team that developed the technology to use water plastic in road laying.
Dr. Vasudevan received the Safai Giri Award instituted by the India Today Group from Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on October 2 as ‘Tech Guru’ for this innovation. The award has been instituted to recognise innovations in the Swachh Bharat Mission.
Explaining the qualities of Plastone, Dr. Vasudevan said that it was stronger than granite due to its sturdiness and better load carrying capacity. It could assume a look as good as granite with a glossy surface. The equipment needed for making Plastone blocks using shredded waste plastic and aggregate had already been installed at the college and an improved version was also getting ready.
The added advantage of Plastone was that a one-foot block with one inch thickness consumed 1.5 kg of waste plastic, including PET bottles, he said. Fifteen PET bottles would go into the making of one block. There was 32 to 40 per cent utilisation of waste plastic in Plastone whereas it was 0.5 per cent in road laying. Fifty tonnes of waste plastic was required for laying a one-km road. According to a report of the Central Pollution Control Board, the country generated three lakh tonnes of waste plastic in a year.
