Plastic to Pavement: How Did We Get Here?
- ryantan2309
- Aug 15
- 3 min read
The Problem With Plastic Waste
With overconsumption becoming a global problem, many forms of waste due to overindulgence start to pop up in society. We have food waste, industrial waste and even electronic waste. Gradually, innovators have come up with ingenious solutions to tackle this growing problem. From the extraction of recylicable electronic parts to apps used to reduce food waste, it is heartening to see progress being made towards a more sustainable future.
Unfortunately, one particular waste has continued to rear its ugly head and has become so severe that it prompted the United Nations to write a treaty about it:
Plastic Waste.
Why is it so severe, you ask? For starters, there is a need for us to consider how prevalent single-use plastic has become in our everyday lives. This all begins with the rate of demand of plastic as a low-cost mean to carry goods. Thus, producers had to increase their supply of single use plastic products based on the derived demand for it. In fact, half of all plastics ever manufactured have been made in the last 20 years. The production of plastic also increased exponentially, from 2.3 million tonnes in the 1950s to 448 million tonnes by 2015. Most worringly, this number is said to double by 2050 which could spell doom for our environment.
As if that piece of news was not bad enough, getting rid of plastic waste has also proven to be a Herculean task. Plastic is non-biodegradeable. Thus, it overstays its welcome in our ecosystem by being a source of pollution.
If we were to dispose of plastic by burning it, dangerous chemicals such as heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants(POPs) and more toxins. These chemicals have been linked to the development of asthma, endocrine disruption and cancer.
Unfortunately, that is just the tip of the iceberg. Plastic waste also poses a problem when it comes to ocean pollution. Although one can argue only less than 0.5% of the over 400 million tonnes of plastic produced annually ends up in the ocean, that is still a number that cannot be overlooked due to its severe impacts. Entanglement and ingestion have been found to affect 914 megafunal species, of which more than 100 are endangered. Furthermore, plastic waste also affects oxygen levels in the ocean. Phytoplankton, an oxygen-producing organism, has seen a decrease in its oxygen production and reproduction rates due to the levels of plastic pollution. Furthermore, we may see a higher concentration of carbon in the marine ecosystem. Zooplankton found ingesting microplastic consumed 40% less carbon biomass.
Evidently, plastic waste is undeniably a problem of paramount importance. However, since our focus is the intersection of sustainable energy and transpoort, let's examine one innovative solution in which we can kill two birds with one stone.
Sources:
https://theoceancleanup.com/ocean-plastic-pollution-explained/
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/plastic-pollution
A Potential Solution
What if I told you that once deemed unrecyclable plastic found new life in being road pavement through the magic of innovation? Well, that's what NEWBitumen is! This initiative was launched by Magorium, a tech start-up. Ms Oh Chu Xian, founder of Magorium, commented that the process involves collecting plastic waste, even contaminated waste, and breaking it down. This product is then combined with asphalt, the usual road surfacing material, to create a new composite that is used to pave roads.
It is also very heartening to see that this initiative is being adopted by the government. NUS(National University of Singapore) has collaborated with LTA(Land Transport Authority) to trial this new composite material on Sections of the West Coast Highway and the Pan Island Expressway. The purpose of this trial is to assess the feasibility of greener road surfacing materials.
In fact, the results are a testament to the fact that sustainable infrastructure and operational effiencey are not mutually exclusive goals. Roads that use plastic in its composite have shown to be about 30% more durable. Moreover, such roads are weather resistant, produce less noise pollution and have a cooling effect.
Sources:
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/lta-trials-use-of-plastic-waste-to-build-roads
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