MCT shows novel way to tackle plastic waste

- Plastic waste material is being used in laying BT roads in pilgrim city
- The MCT is laying BT roads mixed with plastic waste in four places
- Rag pickers were given identity cards by MCT to collect plastic from them

Tirupati: Municipal Corporation of Tirupati (MCT) has taken up a novel way for tackling the growing plastic waste menace in the pilgrim city. The MCT started using the plastic waste in laying BT road in the city to achieve twin purposes of containing plastic waste problem and also cutting the cost for laying the road by mixing the waste with bitumen used in for roads.

Probably for the first time, such plastic waste material mixed bitumen roads were laid in four places in the city. They include Korlagunta main road, Narasimha Theertham, Bommagunta-Nehru Nagar road and TUDA office road in the city, according to municipal corporation commissioner V Vinay Chand. The MCT commissioner said that the plastic waste segregated from the solid waste in the municipal compost yard at Ramapuram near the city and were cut into small pieces, using machines for mixing with bitumen for laying road.

Besides, the rag pickers were also roped in to provide the plastic waste they collect daily from the city to the corporation. The MCT issued identity cards to the rag pickers and also set up collection centres for depositing the plastic waste they collected from various places in the city from where MCT will take up the supply of plastic materials. Later, this plastic waste will be cut into smaller pieces for mixing them with bitumen for laying the road, he explained.

Vinay Chand said that the plastic mixed BT road is more durable and also avoid stagnation of water on the road. It will also make the laying of road cost effective helping the municipality to minimise the expenditure for laying roads in the city, he said.

The MCT senior officials including additional commissioner Sridevi, municipal engineer Chandrasekhar and other engineering officials were overseeing the entire process of collecting plastic materials, making them into smaller chips, mixing them with bitumen and using the mixture of plastic and bitumen for laying the roads. While the health and sanitation officials were involving the workers in the segregation of solid and wet waste, after which the plastic materials will also be separated for sending them to the plastic collection centre set up in select places in the city were machines were also installed for making the waste material into smaller chips for mixing with bitumen for roads.

G Sridhar