4 ms·

Its mostly true. Here is the patent received in 2006 http://www.allindianpatents.com/patents/198254-a-new-mix-process-of-waste-plastics-aggregate-bitumen-for-fl

Its mostly true. Here is the patent received in 2006 http://www.allindianpatents.com/patents/198254-a-new-mix-process-of-waste-plastics-aggregate-bitumen-for-flexible-pavement http://www.allindianpatents.com/patents/198254-a-new-mix-pro... Lots of roads in many countries have been paved using this technique however the exact numbers are tough to calculate. The 70 micron number is sort of wrong. The films used must be less than 70 microns in thickness (relatively thick plastic bag such that they can easily shred) but they are only shredded to between 2mm and 6mm in length/width.

ucaetano 8y ago
Oh, I'm not doubting that the method exists. I'm doubting that it is as efficient as portrayed in the article, a good solution for using plastic, and as widely used.
- danans 8y ago
  Plastic litter is everywhere in India due to lack of litter management. In that reality, regardless of the efficiency, solutions like this that target the symptom rather than the root problem get attention.
  - _emacsomancer_ 8y ago
    > Plastic litter is everywhere in India due to lack of litter management. Certainly this is true. But assume that litter management improved in India: they would still have to dispose of the plastic litter.
    - alanbernstein 8y ago
      Isn't the point that it can be disposed of by paving roads?
      - ucaetano 8y ago
        The problem is scale. Indians use 10kg of plastic per person per year, so 13M tons per year. If India were to pave 10 thousand km of roads per year with this tar/plastic combinations (completely unrealistic), it would use up only 10 thousand tons of plastic, or a meager 0.8% of all plastic consumed in India.
        yitchelle 8y ago
        Perhaps after some years, that percentage will increase to "life changing" level. It all boils down to the motivation of the folks who has the means to make the change.
        somberi 8y ago
        Only commenting on India's plastic consumption [1]: India which, despite its 1.3bn people, falls outside the top ten of the plastic polluters (8 of them are in Asia) thanks to armies of ragpickers. A related useful read on the relatively less harm caused by Plastic compared to other pollutants[2]. [1] https://www.economist.com/leaders/2018/03/01/dont-bin-plastic.-to-solve-the-polymer-problem-look-east https://www.economist.com/leaders/2018/03/01/dont-bin-plasti... [2] https://www.economist.com/international/2018/03/03/the-known-unknowns-of-plastic-pollution https://www.economist.com/international/2018/03/03/the-known...
        brenschluss 8y ago
        10,000km of new paved roads per year? At an Indian scale, that seems pretty minuscule.

ucaetano 8y ago

Oh, I'm not doubting that the method exists. I'm doubting that it is as efficient as portrayed in the article, a good solution for using plastic, and as widely used.

danans 8y ago
Plastic litter is everywhere in India due to lack of litter management. In that reality, regardless of the efficiency, solutions like this that target the symptom rather than the root problem get attention.
- _emacsomancer_ 8y ago
  > Plastic litter is everywhere in India due to lack of litter management. Certainly this is true. But assume that litter management improved in India: they would still have to dispose of the plastic litter.
  - alanbernstein 8y ago
    Isn't the point that it can be disposed of by paving roads?
    - ucaetano 8y ago
      The problem is scale. Indians use 10kg of plastic per person per year, so 13M tons per year. If India were to pave 10 thousand km of roads per year with this tar/plastic combinations (completely unrealistic), it would use up only 10 thousand tons of plastic, or a meager 0.8% of all plastic consumed in India.
      - yitchelle 8y ago
        Perhaps after some years, that percentage will increase to "life changing" level. It all boils down to the motivation of the folks who has the means to make the change.
      - somberi 8y ago
        Only commenting on India's plastic consumption [1]: India which, despite its 1.3bn people, falls outside the top ten of the plastic polluters (8 of them are in Asia) thanks to armies of ragpickers. A related useful read on the relatively less harm caused by Plastic compared to other pollutants[2]. [1] https://www.economist.com/leaders/2018/03/01/dont-bin-plastic.-to-solve-the-polymer-problem-look-east https://www.economist.com/leaders/2018/03/01/dont-bin-plasti... [2] https://www.economist.com/international/2018/03/03/the-known-unknowns-of-plastic-pollution https://www.economist.com/international/2018/03/03/the-known...
      - brenschluss 8y ago
        10,000km of new paved roads per year? At an Indian scale, that seems pretty minuscule.