Punjab mulls roads from plastic waste

CHANDIGARH:  The Punjab Government has now woken up from deep slumber after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) slapped a penalty of Rs 2,180 crore on the state government for its failure to treat solid and liquid waste. 

The government has now decided to use plastic waste in road construction to properly utilise the material, which otherwise is not recycled. Punjab chief secretary VK Janjua in his action plan submitted to the NGT has stated that the government is planning to use plastic waste in constructions of roads. The PWD, B&R and Punjab Mandi Board have already started using plastic waste in the construction of rural roads. Such roads have already been built in Ikolaha village of Khanna.

Sources said the plastic waste generated in Punjab crossed one lakh metric tonne from last year wherein 1.04 lakh MT of plastic waste was generated out of which 34,426 MT was processed. Last month a bench headed by NGT chairperson justice AK Goel had said that corrective action cannot wait for an indefinite period and health issues be deferred for long.