Solid waste may be used for highway construction

NEW DELHI: The government is working on a plan to use solid waste generated by urban centres for the construction of national highways.

The first such project will be the Delhi-Meerut expressway where solid waste from Delhi’s Ghazipur landfill site would be used for construction.

Use of solid waste will not only solve the problem of waste disposal but would also bring down the cost of highway construction.

According to a CSIR-CRRI study, municipal solid waste contains 65-70% of soil components, which can be used in embankment construction after segregation from waste, a statement from the National Highways Authority of India ( NHAI) said.

The East Delhi Municipal Corporation had earlier approached NHAI to make use of waste at the Ghazipur landfill site.

The road transport and highways ministry plans to use the solid waste from the cities wherever the national highways are planned.