If everything goes as planned, more roads in Mysuru are to be laid using plastic granules produced from plastic waste.
Despite the ban on single-use plastic, Mysuru city produces around 200 tonnes of plastic waste daily. Some portion of it goes for recycling and the large share of it remains unutilised or taken by vendors who deal in such wastes.
Already burdened with the growing volume of solid wastes, the Mysuru City Corporation is looking for alternatives and is exploring various options, including turning plastic waste into pellets for using it suitably with bitumen in laying roads, filling potholes and repairs.
On a trial basis, the MCC had used this technology in the laying of roads at 10 places here some years ago. But the plastic granules used in the work had not been recycled from the waste generated in Mysuru and was brought by the agency.
“The use of recycled plastic in certain quantity was expected to strengthen the roads and improve their longevity,” according to MCC officials.
In order to take this concept forward in a more professional manner, the MCC has identified an agency that recycles plastic waste and produces granules for use in road works.
Recently, the MCC had encouraged schoolchildren to bring plastic waste as a part of a drive marking Children’s Day. The kids had collected over 200 kg of plastic trash and handed over to the MCC.
“We want to take up the initiative of using recycled plastic waste in roads by utilising the waste collected by the school kids. Later on, we would like to explore other options as well,” said MCC Health Officer D.G. Nagaraj.
He told The Hindu that the MCC had used this technology for laying roads in the past. The granules had been combined with bitumen and used accordingly at certain temperature for laying the roads.
“Other than roads, the plastic waste can be recycled into paver blocks and tiles. The recycled waste can be used even in cement factories. The MCC is looking at many options and come up with suitable solutions in its bid to handle the plastic trash effectively.”
