Employing solid waste in road construction to lower CO2

The policy also addresses fundamental concerns like investing in segregation facilities and offering incentives to councils or municipal corporations for providing solid waste management.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has successfully implemented pilot projects and developed a policy on using inert waste material. The Centre has made clear that it intends to combine road building with the Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0. Using inert utilises from solid waste to build embankments alongside national highways is the goal.

In addition to addressing the issue of managing urban solid waste, the policy aims to provide the increasing demand for earth or soil needed for embankment construction. To promote alternative fuels in construction equipment, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, led by Nitin Gadkari, has developed a draft policy. Reducing expenses and reducing reliance on fossil fuels are the goals of this programme.

The debris will be used for road construction when it has been separated to remove plastic, glass, and metals, as the policy is almost finished. Using waste in road construction is anticipated to have several advantages and provide a workable solution to the problem of illegal waste dumping.

The first section of the Delhi-Mumbai Motorway, the Dholera project in Ahmedabad, and Urban Extension Road II, which links NH 44 and the Delhi-Gurgaon Motorway on NH 48 in Delhi, were all constructed by the ministry using inert material from municipal solid waste.

The policy also tackles basic questions, such as whether councils or municipal corporations should be given financial incentives for investing in segregation facilities and providing solid trash.

Urban Extension Road (UER) 2, the capital’s third ring road, will be built using the garbage from the three dump sites in Delhi, located in Ghazipur, Okhla, and Bhalaswa. The project to turn rubbish into roads will employ ₹ 700 crore from the Central Road Fund for road construction, maintenance, upkeep, and beautification.

Additionally, the ministry is thinking of implementing a policy that would allow bitumen to be mixed with old tyres and plastic garbage to create roads. They anticipate that the policy will lead to a rise in the demand for and consumption of solid waste, similar to what happened with fly ash. At first, not many people were interested in using coal ash when it was suggested. Nevertheless, things have changed, and fly ash is now harder to come by.

The government’s proposal to employ solid waste in road construction is a big step toward sustainable growth and lower carbon emissions.

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