The Udupi district has made it mandatory to use 10% plastic trash with bitumen while paving roadways. The action is being performed against the backdrop of the district’s success in the road building pilot projects it undertook using plastic garbage in the villages of Alevoor and Maravanthe a few years ago.
According to H Prasanna, CEO of the Udupi zilla panchayat, using plastic trash for road construction will not only lower costs but also contribute in finding solutions to the plastic waste problem. He said that a 300-meter road built in Alevoor in 2019 using a mixture of plastic garbage and bitumen is still free of potholes and serves as proof that plastic waste can be recycled for road paving.
“The management of plastic garbage has been a significant problem for us. It is our duty to stop plastic garbage from having a negative influence on the environment. The district organised a workshop on plastic trash reuse as part of the Swachh Bharat Mission – Gramin in 2019 with R Vasudevan, a recipient of the Padma Shri award, serving as a resource person “Prasanna stated. “Vasudevan claims that 100 kg of plastic garbage can be utilised to pave a km-long road, saving bitumen in the process. After that, a 300-meter road was built in Alevoor as part of a test project using plastic garbage. Three years later, the road is still in perfect condition and has not been damaged “said the CEO. He continued by saying that Maravanthe’s other road, built using the same method, is similarly free of potholes.
“In the future, when building roads, I have ordered the PWD, ZP engineering department, and Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Limited to mix 10% plastic garbage. The garbage units at the villages of Vandse, Shankaranarayana, Hebri, and Nitte will provide the plastic waste needed for road development “Prasanna added on.
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