Plastic waste could soon be the scourge of Indian cities as million of tons of it finds its way to the landfills and even the streets themselves. But in the city of Jamshedpur, a solution to this environmental disaster has been presented. The plastic waste is used as Bitumen instead.
Jamshedpur is the sole city where technology like this has been implemented. The accumulated plastic is used as a part of Bitumen (dry process) technology. It was introduced by Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai and applied at construction level for the first time.
JUSCO, a subsidiary of TATA Steel has experienced 7 percent less cost of Bitumen since the use of water plastic has been started by the company. JUSCO provides municipal services in the TATA command area of the city, and it has collected the waste plastic from the adjoining areas.
There are many advantages of using a synthetic substitute for Bitumen like low cost compared to the traditional process, no toxic gas emissions and ability to withstand higher pressures and loads. One tonne of bitumen is saved per Km road and saves the company 50,000 INR.
The adjoining areas and states have also expressed a deep interest in the development of this technology. It hoped that this reusing process would be incentivized and used to get rid of the monstrous heaps of plastic lying all around the cities.