The Indian chemist Rajagopalan Vasudevan he thought that the ban on plastic packaging (which is being proposed in India) makes many first-hand products expensive, which particularly affects the poorest population.
“Plastic is not the problem,” says the scientist in an interview with The Guardian. “The problem is us. Plastic wouldn't obstruct our oceans or our dumps if we didn't dump it there. First of all. And there are many things we can do with him instead.”
It all came about in 2001, when Dr. Rajagopalan Vasudevan, who is 73 years old, started studying at the Thiagarajar College of Engineering how to take advantage of tons of plastic that are constantly generated in India. In his studies he discovered that molten plastic had the property of being an excellent binder. And when mixed with bitumen, the viscose mixture formed mainly of hydrocarbons that is used next to the gravel to manufacture most of the pavements, worked wonderfully.
Bitumen is, in fact, made up of polymers similar to plastic: everything comes, after all, from oil. So mixing recycled plastics with bitumen is achieved a dual objective: waste is reused and fossil fuel expenditure reduced in the first instance.
A normal road requires 10 tons of bitumen per kilometer. However, one of the manufacturers of Vasudevan’s equipment requires only nine tons of bitumen and one ton of residual plastic. For every kilometer, plastic roads save up to a ton of bitumen and reuse another plastic.
The renowned Indian chemist claims that many companies have been interested in their patents, but he does not want to sell them, just share them with the Indian people. That there are more plastic roads, he says, is the only motivation for his work.
Plastic is not biodegradable, but it is recyclable and plastic waste contains energy comparable to that of fossil fuelsthey are therefore an excellent alternative as a source of energy and/or alternative projects. These and other recycling techniques are currently being investigated to eliminate the contamination caused by plastic.
From this year it is forbidden in Spain that the establishments give bags, which discourages their consumption, and measures are being taken around the world to prohibit the use of plastic packaging. FxSanmarti manufactures paper bags for food packaging and personalized cardboard boxes with the possibility of printing of the logo of your company.
From the beginning of July all shops and shops must charge plastic bags, except for the very light ones used for bulk food and the thick recycled ones.
The European Commission has published a new strategy for limit the impact of plastics in the environment, with the aim that all packaging of this material produced in the European Union in 2030 is designed so that it can be recycled or reused.
