Highways using plastic waste; bagasse to replace plastic

India constructed 703-km of highways using plastic waste  

So far 703-km of National Highways have been constructed with the use of waste plastic in “wearing coat of flexible pavement", the Parliament was told on 29 July. Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari told the Lok Sabha, in a written reply, that the ministry has issued guidelines for mandatory use of waste plastic in periodic renewal with hot mixes and in wearing coat of service road on national highways within 50-km periphery of an urban area having population of more than 5-lakh. Use of plastic waste in construction of road protects the environment from adverse impact of waste plastic. Plastic roads consist of 6-8% plastic, while 92-94% is bitumen. In 2016, Gadkari had announced the usage of plastic waste in road construction in 2016. Since then, plastic waste has been used in constructing roads in 11 states.

Bagasse to replace plastic

Narendra Mohan, the director of National Sugar Institute (NSI), Kanpur, recently made a presentation on the possible use of bagasse as replacement for single use plastic during Industrial Motivation Campaign organised by MSME-Development Institute, Cuttack. In a developed reported in 2017, the NSI had filed an application for patent rights for its innovative technique to develop bio-detergent from bagasse, the residue left after the extraction of juice from sugar cane. Mohan had said since no chemical was used in preparing the detergent powder from bagasse, it was safe for skin and environment because it did not discharge any harmful waste. Besides, the detergent requires less water for washing clothes and is not harsh on fabric. One kilogram of bagasse detergent could be produced from raw material that costs just Rs 20.