MCG makes use of plastic waste a must for paving roads in Gurugram

The development comes in the backdrop of MCG starting construction of 10-kilometre roads with plastic waste — four km in Sushant Lok 1 and six km in Palam Vihar last week.

Nearly a year after it constructed the city’s first-ever plastic road in Sector 51, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has now made the use of plastic waste mandatory in the construction of arterial roads.

A worker at the construction site of the first plastic road in the city, at Sector 51, in Gurugram. (Yogendra Kumar/ HT File)

MCG chief engineer Raman Sharma said that henceforth all tenders will be floated with this clause and the concessionaires will have to procure plastic waste from MCG’s shredding centre in Begumpur Khatola.

“In December last year, we had constructed the first-ever plastic road in the city, a 100-metre stretch in Sector 51. We found plastic roads to be extremely durable. The use of plastic lowered our maintenance costs as it does not allow water to stagnate and form potholes. Hence, we have passed a rule mandating the use of plastic in road construction falling under MCG’s jurisdiction,” said Sharma.

The development comes in the backdrop of MCG starting construction of 10-kilometre roads with plastic waste — four km in Sushant Lok 1 and six km in Palam Vihar last week.

Last month, the Union ministry of road transport and highways had announced it would be using plastic waste in the construction of highways across India.

“We have about 40 tonnes of plastic waste in storage. Our centre has a capacity of producing 2-3 tonnes of plastic waste on a daily basis. We have set up a mechanism for collecting plastic from MCG and its concessionaire that collects waste in the city, and are now in a position for mass production,” said Rasool Khan, director, KK Plastics.

As per Khan, after being shredded, plastic is sold at ₹23 per kg. The buyer then heats the shredded plastic at 165 degrees Celsius and adds it to bitumen mixture, and subsequently spreads it over the top layer of the road.

In November last year, officials from the MCG’s engineering wing had toured Bengaluru to learn the technique of using plastic for road construction from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), and a month later constructed their prototype in Sector 51.

Plastic roads consist of 6-8% plastic, while 92-94% is bitumen.

Transport experts said that the technique of using plastic waste has approval of the Indian Roads Congress (IRC) and has been tried at many places in India and internationally.

“Plastic road is a proven concept and has been implemented at many places in India and globally. It is known for low maintenance costs and higher longevity. Recently, the NHAI has also started using it on a mass scale. It has approval from all recognised bodies governing road and traffic,” said Sarika Panda Bhatt, programme coordinator with Haryana Vision Zero.

Internal city roads which connect sector roads and colony roads, and do not necessarily carry intercity traffic such as Golf Course Road and MG Road are known as arterial roads. As per a report by Haryana Vision Zero, Gurugram has 646 km of link and village roads.