Kochi: The Public Works Department will promote using plastic as raw material for road construction, in an effort to resolve the issue of plastic waste management in the state.
Minister for Public Works V.K Ebrahim Kunju, while inaugurating the construction of a road using plastic at Kakkanad on Friday, said that the project would be feasible only if shredded plastic from local bodies was made available at a nominal rate to the PWD. Subsidy should be given to shredding units of local bodies, the minister said. The Nilampathinjimukal – Palachuvadu Road will be reconstructed using plastic.
The project is initiated by Clean Kerala Company, the State government initiative for an integrated waste management system. “More than 300 plastic shredding units will be set up soon across the state.
The National Road Research Institute and Kerala Highway Research Institute are conducting a study on the possibility of reducing the quantity of bitumen used for tarring by replacing it with plastic,” said Kunju.
