K Ahmed Khan came up with an idea to mix recycled plastic with ashphalt to lay roadways. Khan has been running his company, KK Polyflex, for 20 years, producing plastic sacks. About 8 years ago he realised that the anti-plastics lobby had a point, and that the industry was ignoring the problem of plastic waste. He rolled up his sleeves to create an opportunity out of the situation. The plastic appears to have strengthened roads by enhancing ashphalt's bonding ability, and made the roads longer lasting by rendering them more impervious to water.The effort seems to be paying off, as Khan has a contract to lay 500 miles of road in Bangalore. One commenter on the post, though, notes that improved imperviousness may have environmental drawbacks: "We need as much infiltration of as possible. When you consider that most development of land can take up to 70% (or more) of the pervious water absorbing ground and that most is from paving, you really need to devise a system utilizing recycling techniques, but far more serious is the permeability of the roadway."
Technorati tags: plastic, recycling, India
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