At a time when the entire world is scuffling with disposal problems of huge volumes of plastic waste, students of Sanjay memorial polytechnic college, Sagar taluk, Shivamogga district in Karnataka, under the guidence of Professor Jagadeesh N.P and Pratap Singh has come up with a solution with a research that shows the use of plastic in making asphalt.
India generates nearly 26,000 tonnes of plastic waste every day, making it the 15th biggest plastic polluter globally.
According to CPCB, 94% of the plastic waste produced is thermoplastic, or recyclable materials such as PET(polyethylene terephthalate), and PVC(polyvinyl chloride). Yet these materials can be recycled utmost 7-9 times, after which they have to be disposed off. The remainig plastic is either burnt leading to air pollution, ends up in landfills or clogs drains.
Using plastic waste can help the country, and these students have set an example by trying their best in easing out india's plastic crisis by utilizing plastic waste in preparing asphalt.
Students have implemented the use of plastic waste on a road construction inside the college premises. Building roads using plastic waste can be a huge load off the planet that is currently choking due to plastic waste.
According to the world Economic Forum report, The roads made from waste plastic are proven to be more durable against extreme weather conditions like floods and heat as compared to the conventional roads.