To resolve the twin problems of urban solid waste disposal and urgent requirement of soil for construction of embankments, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), through the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), recently undertook two pilot projects for utilisation of inert (sand, concrete and demolition waste) municipal solid waste material. The first pilot project has been carried out in Delhi-NCR on the urban extension road and DND Sohna spur of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, the second on the Ahmedabad-Dholera Expressway. At a point of time when road and highway construction activity is peaking, the Indian Government is drafting a policy to integrate this initiative with the Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0, which will involve incorporation of inert material from solid waste for construction of embankments along National Highways (NHs) and state roads.

Carbon footprint reduction

“The maximum carbon emissions are from asphalt production, energy consumption, steel and cement production, transportation, mining, etc, while the execution contributes only 3-6 per cent,” says Subodh Dixit, Former Executive Director, Shapoorji Pallonji. “Apart from this, India is the world’s second-largest steel-producing country, generating around 20 million tonnes of steel slag as solid waste per year, which is projected to increase to a staggering 60 million tonne by 2030, with each tonne of steel production resulting in about 200 kg of steel slag waste...

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