4 months ago
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Belagavi City Corporation has decided to utilise plastic waste as an ingredient to lay roads in the city. The pilot project will include a stretch of roads in one ward. If found feasible, the facility will be extended to all the wards.
This was decided in a meeting of the Public Works Committee of the city corporation in Belagavi on Sunday.
Public Works Committee president Vani Vilas Joshi said that the pilot project will utilise around five tonnes of plastic waste seized from shops, storehouses and vendors that had stored them in violation of the rules.
However, a detailed plan is being chalked out to segregate waste plastic before it goes to the garbage dump. Traditionally, cement factories have been buying plastic waste in bulk from the city corporation.
“Engineers have informed the committee that 6%-8% of plastic waste will be mixed with bitumen that will act as a binding agent in road-making. This will offset the cost of bitumen by around 10%,” Ms. Joshi said.
The decision was taken after much deliberation by officers and engineers who studied the proposal and visited cities where such projects have been successfully completed. She said that a critical evaluation of the project, including potential positive environment impact, will be done later.
The pilot project involves building a stretch of road for around ₹6 lakh. It will be taken up between Sangolli Rayanna Circle and Sri Krishna Devaraya Circle in the city.
“Belagavi City Corporation is already collecting flower waste from wholesale markets and sending them to an incense sticks-making unit. All such projects will be pooled and scaled up,” an officer who attended the meeting said.
