Mumbai, August 9 Finding an ecological solution to reuse polythene and plastic waste, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation laid a 100-metre stretch of road at Dadar using plastic and asphalt. This stretch on Prof V S Agashe Road near the Kohinoor Technical Institute in Dadarwas laid by the civic body's Road department with the help of the Indian Centre for Plastics in the Environment (ICPE) . The BMC will test its sustainability for a year and then decide whether to lay an entire stretch of road using waste plastic. "We have used waste plastic and asphalt for laying this stretch of the road. Virgin plastic is not a feasible option as it is not totally adaptable with asphalt,' said T K Bandopadhyay, technical manager, ICPE. Adjoining the plastic road, the BMC has also laid another 100-metre road using normal asphalt to compare and evaluate the sustainability of both the roads. To lay the 100-metre plastic road, 16 per cent plastic waste was added to 15 per cent bitumen. Plastic waste costs around Rs 12 per kg. The BMC provided one tonne of bitumen. "The cost of laying the road was Rs 56,000,' said C B Pendse, sub-engineer, Road department. The ICPE had approached the BMC to use the plastic for laying roads in January 2005. "The BMC wanted to see how this technology works. We have laid the 10-metre stretch in New Prabhadevi Road on a trial basis. This stretch could withstand the 24/7 deluge. The mayor was impressed and the proposal got a shot in the arm,' said Bandopadhyay. "We wanted to see if the plastic and asphalt could blend well. After the success of the trial, we decided to go ahead with laying of a 100-metre stretch. The trial confirmed that any micron size plastic could be used after pulverising it properly. We thought of using waste plastic for a good purpose,' said Pendse. Authorities at Chennai and Bangalore had already used waste plastic in the construction of asphalt roads. Six years ago, such a project was successfully completed in Bangalore. In 2005, the Thiagarajar College of Engineering had constructed plastic roads in Madurai. "We consulted R Vasudevan who led the project for laying plastic road,' he added. In 2005, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), after studying the plastic reuse technology, permitted to use plastic in the construction of roads. Now, the ICPE along with the Gujarat State Plastics Manufacturers' Association and Plastindia Foundation are working with the Gujarat government's road and building department which has sanctioned laying of a 10 km stretch of asphalt road using waste plastic.