As part of its move to implement the ban on single-use plastics, the city’s civic body, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), has seized numerous plastics from various shops. Now, what happens to these plastics that have been seized? Well, the Bengaluru International Airport has come up with a solution - use these plastics as an additive while laying roads.
The airport, which is undergoing expansion, will take over the plastics seized by BBMP to lay the roads within its premises. A formal handover event will take place at the BBMP headquarters on Monday at 4 pm. There will also be a meeting between BBMP Commissioner BH Anil Kumar, BBMP Mayor Gangambike Malikarjun, Deputy Chief Project Officer Raju Kaval and, Vice-President of Special Projects of the Kempegowda International Airport, Sundar Chandramouli.
Two trucks of over two tonnes of seized plastic will be taken to the airport after the event. Officials in the BBMP said that this was also a way to ensure that the seized plastics do not go back to the environment and will be given free of cost to the airport authorities.
Experts for long have advocated the use of plastics in laying roads, considering how it insulates the road from damage caused by waterlogging and reduces costs.
Even the National Rural Roads Development Agency notes, “Plastic roads are found to perform better compared to those constructed with conventional bitumen. Further, it has been found that such roads were not subjected to stripping when they come in contact with water”.
While BBMP is giving away the seized plastics to the airport authorities, officials within the BBMP admitted that there has not been widespread use of plastic in making the city's roads. This is despite the fact that some roads in the city (for example, inside Bangalore University’s Jnana Bharathi campus) were laid with plastics and showed better durability than traditionally built roads.
The BBMP has seized around 4,000 kg of plastics since January 2019.
Starting September 1, the BBMP is going to impose its existing ban on using plastics under stringent rules of Solid Waste Management, 2019. Under these rules, officials can also suspend the trade license or shut down shops for repeat violations.