Plastic roads project yet to take off in Doon a year after MoU

Dehradun: More than a year after the Public Works Department (PWD) and Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) signed an MoU to use shredded plastic waste in road construction, the initiative remains stalled despite being projected as a solution to the city’s mounting plastic waste problem.

Signed on June 3, 2025, the agreement envisaged the use of shredded plastic waste generated in Dehradun for road construction and maintenance as part of efforts to promote sustainable waste management and eco-friendly infrastructure.

Under the pact, DMC was to collect, process and shred suitable plastic waste in accordance with Indian Roads Congress (IRC) guidelines and supply the material for road projects. PWD, in turn, was to use the shredded plastic wherever technically feasible and pay DMC Rs 10 per kg. However, no road project using the material has been undertaken so far.

Neeraj Tripathi, executive engineer, PWD construction division, said, “Roads built using discarded plastic have been found to be as durable as conventional roads. There are currently no active projects involving plastic roads, but if we are provided the shredded material, we can take it up.”

While senior DMC officials declined to comment on the delay, sources said plastic shredders had already been installed and collected plastic could be processed for such use.

Plastic waste has already been used in road projects undertaken by the National Highways Authority of India and under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana in various parts of the country. Nepal has also experimented with plastic roads to address solid waste management challenges.

Ashish Garg of EcoGroup Society, which develops eco-bricks from discarded single-use plastic, said, “Effective implementation of the model across Uttarakhand could significantly reduce plastic pollution by creating a local end-use for plastic waste. Instead of transporting plastic from hill districts to distant processing centres, it can be scientifically processed and utilised by PWD in road construction and maintenance within the same district.”

According to Garg, the model could reduce transportation costs, save energy and lower carbon emissions, strengthen roads and promote a circular economy in which waste is treated as a resource. “If implemented on the ground and not just on paper, such a project could effectively address the plastic menace,” he added.

Dehradun generates more than 500 metric tonnes of waste daily. However, due to source segregation, the exact quantity of plastic waste generated in the city remains unknown.