Despite roads idea, no takers for Mumbai's plastic

The five tonnes of plastic will help make about 4 kms of roads. File pic

The civic body has made the use of plastic in building asphalt roads mandatory, but 84 tonnes of plastic in its godowns might not be used for this. Instead, five tonnes of plastic garbage will be brought in from Pune to make about four km of Mumbai's roads. Four of 12 asphalt plants in the city have bought the plastic from a Pune-based organisation which collects and recycles it.

The reason for not using the plastic from Mumbai is the alleged lack of co-ordination between two departments of the BMC, the Roads Department and the Solid Waste Management (SWM) Department, that handles the plastic garbage. An official from the Roads Department claimed they have a lot on their plate. But as there isn't an organisation in the city, which could recycle the plastic as per requirement for building roads, the department looked hard for one and found it in Pune, the official added.

mid-day had reported on February 11 that the civic body has asked all asphalt plants to provide road material that has a mixture of waste plastic from February 15, 'Mumbai all set to get plastic roads'.

Since the ban on one-time use plastic items in June 2018, the BMC has seized and stored 84 tonnes of plastic in its various godowns. No one has come forward to recycle the plastic materials.

'Just one service provider'
The BMC's Roads Department sent notices to the 12 asphalt plants to use plastic in road materials from February 15. As per the notices, four of the 12 asphalt plants registered their demand with the Pune-based organisation. "As of now there is only one service provider," said a civic officer. Around one to 1.5 tonne of plastic is used to make a one kilometre road. So around 4 km of road can be made with the 5 tonnes purchased by the plants.

'Ready to help Mumbai'
Rudra Environmental Solution (India) Ltd, which provides shreds of plastic to build asphalt roads, collects plastic from Pune and nearby areas. The organisation has started to collect plastic from Thane, Kalyan and Dombivli.

"We will be more than happy to help the recycling of plastic in Mumbai. We were intimated about providing usable plastic shreds to asphalt plants by the Roads Department of the BMC. If the BMC asks us, we will go with our machine and recycle plastic on the spot in Mumbai," said Dr Medha Tadpatrikar, one of the directors of Rudra. She added that they get around 20 tonnes of plastic every month and can shred and deliver it as per the requirement of the plants. But so far no one from the BMC has contacted the organisation regarding the plastic lying in its godowns.

Plastic might not be used
The plastic lying in the godowns of the city may not be used by the asphalt plants. The 84 tonne of plastic that includes all banned items like one-time use bottles, plates, carry bags etc. is also not segregated.

"We searched for almost a year for a company which could take all the plastic. The BMC recently appointed a dry waste collector for the city and after completion of the initial process, the plastic will be handed over to him," said Kiran Dighavkar, assistant commissioner of SWM Department.

"The Roads Department already has many vacant posts and we have so much on our plate. There is no organisation in the city to recycle plastic for use by an asphalt plant.

We somehow managed to get in touch with the Pune company. Where and how do we manage our workforce?" said one of the engineers from the Roads Department.

Plastic cheaper than bitumin

The Indian Road Congress (IRC) has recommended the use of up to 8 per cent plastic in bitumen. The cost of bitumen is approximately R50 to R60. Plastic costs Rs 25 to
Rs 30 per kg.