Vietnam’s first one-kilometer road at the DEEP C Industrial Complex in the northern city of Hai Phong will be made of plastic waste by Dow Vietnam Company, local media reported.The project aims to recycle used plastic packages and turn them into materials to build a more stable and sustainable road.
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According to General Director of Dow Vietnam Company Ekkasit Lakkananithiphan, Dow has used plastic waste to build more than 90km of roads in India, Indonesia, Thailand, and the United States.
He stressed the roads are evidence that plastic waste has the potential to become a valuable renewable resource, contributing to the development of a plastic circulating economy.
Plastic waste such as polyethylene plastic film will be the main material. After being cleaned up, dried and ground, the plastic is mixed with asphalt at a temperature of about 150-180 degrees Celsius. At this temperature, the resin is completely melted, mixed with asphalt to improve the road’s durability.
Roads made of recycled plastics are also capable of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by partly replacing bitumen needed in asphalt.
Vietnam is currently one of the countries that discharge the largest amount of plastic waste. Cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are estimated to dispose about 80 tons of plastic every day.
Regula Schegg, executive director of Asia Circulate Capital, said that about 150 million tons of plastic are floating in the ocean and each year the amount of plastic waste increases by about eight million tons.
According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Asia needs about US$26 trillion for infrastructure development from 2016 to 2030.
