Plastic road leads the way

Plastic road leads the way

Siam Cement Group unveils a prototype road built with recycled plastic which it hopes will pave the way to a better end-of-life use for plastic waste

SOCIAL & LIFESTYLE

The road is short, only 220 metres long, yet it holds a tremendous promise for a zero-waste future.

Cholanat Yanaranop, president of SCG Chemicals (far right) and Rayong governor Surasak Charoensirichote (second right) lead a group of people for a walk along the recycled plastic road during its inauguration earlier this month. (Photos courtesy of Siam Cemend Group)

Siam Cement Group (SCG) unveiled its recycled plastic road in early October. The 220-metre strip, three metres wide and six centimetres thick, was built inside the RIL Industrial Estate in Rayong where the conglomerate's petrochemical arm SCG Chemicals is based.

The pilot project is a joint effort between SCG Chemicals and Dow Thailand. It's part of an attempt by both companies to advance a circular economy for sustainable business.

The US-based Dow has paved the way for what it hopes will be a better use of plastic waste with similar recycled plastic road projects in India and Indonesia.

In India, over 100 tonnes of recycled plastics has been used to create 40 kilometres of roads in Pune and Bengaluru. In Depok, Indonesia, a two-km stretch was built with 3.5 tonnes of plastic waste in the mix as a pilot project.

It is hoped that the technology will increase plastic recycling rates and reduce colossal amounts of plastic waste that are scattered across the environment or end up as ocean litter harming marine life.

Worldwide, eight million tonnes of plastic waste is dumped into the ocean each year, according to the United Nations Environmental Programme.

Clockwise from left: Plastic waste collected from SCG and communities in Rayong province is crushed into small peices before they are blended with asphalt and used to pave the road, a pilot project for recycled plastic.

Thailand is among the countries that dump the most plastic garbage into the ocean. In fact, Ocean Conservancy, a Washington-based non-profit organisation, stated that Indonesia, China, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam put more plastic into the oceans than the rest of the world combined. The recycled plastic road is one of the latest ways to cope with the excessive plastic garbage.

Cholanat Yanaranop, president of SCG Chemicals, explained that the prototype road was built with used plastic such as plastic bags collected from SCG facilities and Mab Ta Phut communities in Rayong.

The plastic was culled and cleaned then crushed into small pieces. After that, it was mixed with asphalt and used to pave the road.

The recycled plastic road's strength was tested by Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Engineering which found it to be 15%-30% more stable than asphalt concrete. It is also more resistant to water erosion, according to SCG.

"We believe that the recycled plastic road pilot project will add more value to plastic waste. It's a concrete attempt to use materials most efficiently for maximum benefit," Cholanat said.

"The fact that there is a recycled plastic road there could remind people about the importance of waste management. At least, it should tell people that it is useful to start separating trash at a household level," he added.

According to Cholanat, the proportion of recycled plastics in the asphalt mix varies according to different mixing methods. Usually, it ranges from 2% to 10%.

About four tonnes of recycled plastic may be used per one kilometre of road, he said.

In terms of cost effectiveness, the recycled plastic road is no winner. Asphalt costs about 20 baht per kg while used plastics may sell at about 10 baht per kg. Financially, the difference is not significant. The plastic road's beauty lies more in its ability make better use of plastics that would otherwise be strewn around as waste, according to Cholanat.

He said SCG will further develop the recycled plastic road technology and expand it to other organisations that may be interested in building similar projects. At the same time, the company will do more research into how to use recycled plastic for other applications.

"The recycled plastic road project epitomises SCG's corporate-wide integration into its operations of a circular economy agenda to use resources most efficiently, from early product design to end-of-life. The idea may be new to some people but it's so necessary."

"The situation is clear: we have finite resources while the population keeps on increasing. In the future, we will either have to spend more to buy products or there won't be any left for us to buy at all."

The prospect of resource scarcity and imbalance between ever-increasing demand and limited supply is leading many organisations to pay more attention to the circular economy concept which ultimately aims to leave no waste as everything will be reused.

But how practical is the idea for businesses that seek profit and continuous growth by making more products and selling more to consumers?

Cholanat said SCG Chemicals has been watching how concern for the environment affects its bottom line and sustainability since 2007. This has led the company to shift its focus away from commodity products like single-use plastics that are considered harmful to the environment towards more high-value sustainable lines.

"Commodity products such as plastic bags comprised about 50% of our portfolio 10 years ago. Now the proportion is down to 38% and we plan to reduce it further to 21% in the next five years."

Cholanat said he's confident the circular economy idea isn't just a passing fad but rather a model for sustainability that is here to stay. However, for the regenerative system to work, he said, it's inevitable that everyone has to think more and make long-term plans.

"It's obvious that innovation and technology are necessary to advance the circular model so that we can use all materials more efficiently. Still, for innovation to work, we have to master certain basic practices first."

He cited as an example the way Thais can definitely do better at waste segregation and management.

"SCG can come up with pilot projects and models for a sustainable future but the company alone won't make it happen. To get there, all of us have to change our habits and produce less waste."

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