Litter To Lane (Part 2): How India Is Turning Plastic Waste Into Roads
A comprehensive account of plastic roads in India, from their inception to their benefits and challenges| Part 2: Plastic roads against plastic waste.
Published : March 13, 2025 at 12:33 PM IST
Hyderabad: India is transforming plastic waste into roads as a practical infrastructure solution, with plastic waste being repurposed for road construction instead of polluting the environment. In part one of the story we explored the idea and development of plastic roads. The second part discusses the plastic waste problem and the effectiveness of plastic road technology against this menace.
The plastic road initiative started with Rajagopalan Vasudevan's patented technology, which combines plastic waste with bitumen, creating durable and eco-friendly roads. The government has mandated the use of plastic waste in road construction, leading to thousands of kilometres of plastic roads since 2016. Chennai pioneered the use of plastic roads in 2004, and now many municipalities across India have adopted this technology. By 2024, about 2,900 km of National Highways and 40,000 kilometres of rural roads have been built using waste plastic. Vasudevan's innovation has also been adopted in other countries, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, and more.
The technology is emerging as a viable solution to the plastic problem. In a conversation with ETV Bharat’s Sivakumar, Vasudevan even called plastic waste a “valuable resource” when disposed of properly for recycling. “Plastic is not waste, it is a resource that helps improve road quality,” he said.
The plastic waste problem
Plastic pollution has become a growing concern over the past decade. According to the Global Plastic Outlook report released by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), global plastics production doubled from 2000 to 2019 to reach 460 million tonnes, whereas global plastic waste generation more than doubled from 2000 to 2019 and reached 353 million tonnes. As per the report, only 9 per cent of this plastic waste is recycled while 19 per cent is incinerated and 50 per cent ends up in landfill. The final 22 per cent evades waste management systems and goes into uncontrolled dumpsites, where it is burned in open pits or ends up in terrestrial or aquatic environments.
In 2019 alone, 6.1 million tonnes (Mt) of plastic waste leaked into aquatic environments and 1.7 Mt flowed into oceans, the report further highlights. There is now an estimated 30 Mt of plastic waste in seas and oceans, and a further 109 Mt has accumulated in rivers, it adds.
Plastic pollution or the accumulation of plastic objects in the environment adversely affects wildlife, habitats, and humans. Without significant improvements in waste management, 99 million tons of plastic waste could end up in the environment by 2030, equivalent to one dump truck of plastic tipped into the ocean every minute, according to Jenna Jambeck, the engineering professor at the University of Georgia.
Despite growing efforts to control plastic waste, the amount of plastic entering waterways and oceans could reach 22 to 58 million tons annually in the next decade, according to a case study by researchers at Saint Martin’s Engineering College, Secunderabad. This estimate factors in numerous government and industry commitments; without them, the situation could be much worse. These projections come from new research that significantly updates the earlier estimate of 8.8 million tons of plastic entering the oceans annually, a figure that sparked the global plastic waste movement.
“For me, the biggest issue is the question of permanence,” says George Leonard, the Ocean Conservancy’s chief scientist and a member of the team that produced this forecast. “If we don’t get the plastic pollution problem in the ocean under control, we threaten to contaminate the entire marine food web, from phytoplankton to whales. And by the time the science catches up to this, perhaps definitively concluding that this is problematic, it will be too late. We will not be able to go back. That massive amount of plastic will be embedded in the ocean’s wildlife essentially forever.”
This is where plastic roads emerge as an effective waste management solution, significantly reducing plastic pollution by recycling post-consumer plastics and providing a way to address the growing waste problem. In addition to India, countries like Australia, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and others have used technology that can incorporate plastic waste into an asphalt mix.
Plastic roads against plastic waste
A 1km stretch of road requires 1 ton of plastic, Rajagopalan Vasudevan, the father of plastic roads, said while emphasising the effectiveness of plastic roads against plastic waste. The utilisation of plastic waste in road construction not only ends up saving the cost of an equivalent amount of bitumen but also utilises plastic as a valuable resource. We use plastic waste like carry bags, chocolate wrappers, and multi-layer films, shredded into 2 to 4 mm sizes, Vasudevan explained, adding that they use 10 lakh carry bags for every 1 km of road.
“For the conversion of all the roads in India, we need not less than 500 lakh kilometres of plastic. India has less than 50 lakh tons. Therefore, plastic waste or SUP is in great demand for road use,” the professor said. "Instead of banning plastic, we should be planning a proper collection system as well as a proper supply chain for plastic waste, which will help make all the roads with plastic tar technology and make India a smart country."
Vasudevan advocates for a system to organise waste pickers and train them to collect and segregate plastic waste to help improve the supply chain. Simple steps like collecting, drying, shredding, and laying plastic can ensure the success of this technique, he said, adding that many industries are already ready to join this process.
The microplastic problem
In the face of a long list of advantages, plastic roads also seem to warrant some caution. The concern is that they may break down into microplastics due to abrasion from vehicle tyres and natural weathering, contaminating soil and water sources, thus raising concerns about potential environmental damage.
Microplastics are plastic particles smaller than 5 mm in size and can spread easily in the environment, acting as toxic substances for some ecosystems due to their physical and chemical properties. They can enter the body through contaminated food and water, inhalation, and skin exposure. Microplastics can impact human health in many ways, including cardiovascular disease, inflammation, and oxidative stress. They can also potentially contribute to cancer, reproductive issues, and other health problems.
The exact extent of plastic roads contributing to the microplastic problem is still being researched and requires further studies to understand the full impact compared to traditional roads.
Back in 2021, Heather Troutman, program manager of Ghana National Plastic Action Partnership told Anna Parson of Yale Environment 360 that they don’t see microplastics as a problem, arguing that road material is relatively inert as a solid block of asphalt and the largest source of microplastics on the planet is, in fact, the abrasion of tyres. However, the comment was made at a time when there was no substantial evidence of plastic roads contributing towards the release of microplastics in the environment, only speculations.
A paper, published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials in September 2022 -- Paving roads with recycled plastics: Microplastic pollution or eco-friendly solution -- explored the microplastic problem associated with plastic roads. While noting the possibility of such roads contributing to the release of MPs in the environment by abrasion of tyres and the wear and tear of pavement surfaces due to weather events, it acknowledged that the contribution of plastic-modified roads to MP pollution remains unclear in the absence of a standard procedure to assess the release of microplastics from roads upon abrasion.
The study highlighted that the sustainability of incorporating plastic waste in roads has not been proven yet, which is why road authorities are still hesitant to promote the construction of plastic-modified roads.
It not only quantified microplastic released from plastic-modified roads by simulating road traffic on such construction but also aimed to develop a laboratory-based procedure to assess the release of microplastics from plastic-modified asphalt using a Wet Track Abrasion machine and a new extraction procedure to quantify the generation of microplastics from asphalt.
“This novel approach will help benchmark the release of microplastics from plastic-based bituminous products against existing references and support environmental agencies in making decisions regarding the introduction of such products into the market,” it said.
A 2024 study, published in the International Research Journal of Innovations in Engineering and Technology (IRJIET) confirms the positive impacts of plastic roads, but it also stresses the need for long-term studies to assess the durability and environmental impact over the lifespan of such roads. “Addressing these challenges through comprehensive research and field validation will be crucial in advancing the widespread adoption of this innovative approach in sustainable road construction,” it said.
India is also making an effort to assess the microplastic problem associated with plastic roads. The NHAI has taken up work of measurement of all emissions and microplastic generation on a trail section in Raebareli on NH through CRRI & IIT, BHU.
Meanwhile, Professor Vasudevan does not think microplastic is a problem. “The plastic used in the road stays mixed with the bitumen, so there is no issue of microplastic contamination,” he said to ETV Bharat, stressing the minimal environmental impact of plastic roads since the process doesn’t require plastic to be heated at a temperature that releases harmful gases.
Up next...
Although the idea of building roads with plastic-infused bitumen originated from the necessity to manage plastic waste, plastic roads have proven to offer far more benefits. First of all, they are cost-effective as the price of plastic is nowhere near the portion of bitumen it replaces in road construction. Additionally, they are proving to be more durable and crack-resistant than regular roads. The next part of the story discusses these additional benefits of plastic roads.
| Plastic Road Series | |
|---|---|
| Part 1 | The Idea and Development of Plastic Roads |
| Part 2 | Plastic Roads Against Plastic Waste |
| Part 3 | Benefits of Plastic Roads Beyond Waste Control |
| Part 4 | State of Plastic Roads in India |
