Military engineers use waste plastics to construct road

In one of the major green initiatives, military engineers have started using waste plastics to construct roads.

The army engineers have used 1.24 metric tons of waste plastics to construct a road inside Narengi military station in Guwahati as a pilot project, the success of which will be emulated by Military Engineers Services (MES) in other cantonments and military stations.

"In this technology, the road is constructed by mixing shredded plastic waste with heated bitumen. This is a green technology, which aims to reduce the menace of plastic waste in one hand and improve the durability of the roads on the other. The project to use plastic in road building is an initiative to reduce, reuse and recycle waste plastics. The road constructed using waste plastic lasts longer, is cheaper to build and maintain and significantly reduces the amount of plastic going into our oceans and landfills. Utilisation of waste plastic in road construction can help in significantly solving one of the biggest problems of plastic waste management," said a statement issued by public relations officer (defence) based in Guwahati, Lt Col P Khongsai.

Plastic wastes have already been used by government agencies in some parts of the country including in the disaster-prone Northeast but this is perhaps for the first time when defence forces took the same initiative. 

Khongsai said it was in line with the government’s mission against single-use plastics. "Indian Army has always been conscious of maintaining a healthy environment and has endeavoured to enhance its green footprint and employ methods to reduce pollution. It has undertaken numerous drives under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and contributed immensely towards this facet," he said.