Green roads making strides in Bhutan to tackle plastic waste

Thimphu [Bhutan], July 9 : Green Road is making headway in Bhutan with its creative initiative of blacktopping roads with plastic waste in an effort to promote environmental responsibility and combat plastic waste, Bhutan Live reported.

This time, the business is working with Thimphu schools to recycle plastic waste. For Nu 10 per kilogramme, it purchases eco-bricks from schools to pave roads.

Plastic bottles are filled tightly with clean, dry plastic waste to produce eco-bricks in the country.

Since 2015, Green Road has been paving roads in more than four districts of the Himalayan nation with plastic waste, a project that has been incredibly successful in terms of durability and recycling non-recyclable plastics.

The organisation came up with a new strategy after realising the health risks connected to the landfill collection of plastics.

"Our team used to go to landfills to collect waste plastics in the past. However, over time, our staff started getting sick and we realised that it was not a very sustainable way and not a healthy way to collect waste plastics. So, we wanted to combat plastic waste at its source," according to Tashi Choden Norbu, Green Road's business development officer.

The thought of gathering eco-bricks from schools then emerged. To achieve this, the business has actively urged schools in Thimphu to create eco-bricks using the plastic waste produced on their property.

The company's processing facility at Bjemina in Thimphu receives the eco-bricks after they have been collected, and there the plastics are separated and broken down into small pieces, Bhutan Live reported.

The road leading to the Buddha Dordenma statue in Thimphu was recently paved by The Green Road, and a section at Olakha that was originally paved by the same business eight years ago was even repaired using recycled plastic waste.

Green Road is currently working with 13 schools in Thimphu, but it eventually wants to work with every school in the nation.