Kempegowda International Airport, in Bengaluru, India, is to experiment with building its campus roads from waste plastic.
The airport has received approximately 11 metric tons of waste plastic from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the administrative body responsible for civic amenities and infrastructural assets in the Greater Bangalore metropolitan area.
Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), the airport’s operator, recently conducted laboratory tests by blending plastic with bitumen. BIAL described the results as “acceptable”. The polymerized road has a strong binding ability that can withstand extreme weather conditions. While asphalt roads are expected to last for about three years, roads with plastic as an add-on aggregate will last twice as long. Polymerized roads also have the potential to reuse a substantial amount of waste plastic.