Effective use of plastic waste in road surfacing
Shahiduzzaman Khan | Sunday, 29 June 2008
Various uses of plastic products are being tested around the world. Of late, experts have witnessed that blending plastic waste with bitumen in laying tarmac could enhance road durability, drastically reduce maintenance costs, and save the country Tk 15.08 billion in maintenance cost a year. Less cracks and potholes will develop on roads and recycling of plastic waste can reduce the amount of hazardous non-biodegradable materials in the environment.
The Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) implemented this new method of road surfacing in three roads back in 2005-06 using crammed rubber polymers. The trials show that the roads had 84 percent, 57 percent and 15 percent less cracks and depressions than conventionally constructed roads. Highly volatile and low quality bitumen, thin layer of surfacing, moisture pollution and soft brick aggregates make roads vulnerable and modified bitumen can bind the layers better. Materials used in the upper two layers, base and surfacing, of three-layer roads are not suitable for Bangladesh considering the climate and traffic load. The thin bituminous surface cannot deal with the traffic load and the weather. Bitumen and plastic originate from petroleum and are thermoplastic in nature. Plastic waste can be used instead of virgin plastic, which is costly.
Performance of a test result in India shows that the life of roads was doubled and the roads became more resistant to water damages when they were constructed by mixing plastic waste with bitumen. The technology was successfully implemented in Canada, Brazil, and the Indian cities of Bangalore, Mumbai, and Chennai.
Due to widespread use of plastic bags, bottles and containers, substantial amount of plastic waste is available in Dhaka and other cities of the country. At present, 0.15 million tonnes of plastic waste can easily be collected every year in Bangladesh. The plastic industry now contributes about over 0.50 percent to GDP. The industry has created employment for about half a million people in the fields such as PVC pipe, garments accessories, polythene bag, artificial leather, jute and textile spares, toys, plastic waste recycling, computer accessories, auto lighting and plastic furniture. Exports earning from the sector, comprising of about 3,000 manufacturers, almost doubled from US$ 28.8 million in the fiscal year 2003-04 to $53.6 million in the fiscal year 2004-05. The sector earned $56.6 million in 2005-06.
Now the future of plastic goods industry hinges mainly on the performance of the country's garment industry. The industry will grow and perform well if the garment sector continues to perform well. In Bangladesh, Bengal Plastic manufactures various garment accessories such as hangers, poly bag, carton sealing tapes, and strapping band. The company also makes containers for paint factories, moulded furniture and various injection moulded parts for different industrial applications.
Meanwhile, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) Sunday said it has imposed the condition of providing 100 per cent bank guarantee on import of plastic raw materials under the bond facility to thwart market distortion and revenue leakage. It has blamed a section of importers of plastic raw materials for abuse of the bond facility. They do it by selling the imported goods in the local market. Such a practice of the importers is leading to an uneven competition among the commercial and bond-licensed importers. The NBR has found some evidences of abusing the bond facility.
In a clarification on the plastic raw material importers' demand of bank guarantee withdrawal, the revenue board said: 'The concerned importers under the bonded warehouse facility are demanding only withdrawal of 100 per cent bank guarantee, which could create misconception.' The government has ordered it only for those, who will not be able to import plastic raw materials with inscription of the statement 'Imported under bond, not for sale' in indelible ink.
In the proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal, the government has made it mandatory to inscribe the statement on packets of plastic raw materials imported under the bond facility. It has waived the earlier rule of using the punching method. If any importer fails to import with inscription of the statement on plastic bags, they have to give 100 per cent bank guarantee to release those products under the bond facility.
With its 2,000 factories, Bangladesh is capable of producing world-class plastic products that have a global market of US$500 billion. The export of plastic products has been rising every year. The products worth Tk 14.43.billion were exported during the last fiscal, which was Tk 6.66 billion in the previous year. Unfortunately, inadequate supply of raw materials has become a major obstacle to the export of the plastic products.
Meanwhile, the government has planned to set up exclusive industrial estates for plastic and automobile industries, the country's two promising sectors. The proposed industrial estates, expected in suitable places near Dhaka, will provide land and infrastructure facilities to manufacturers of plastic goods and auto parts, both for local and export markets.
The state-run Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation had sent the project concept paper to the planning commission. Private sector leaders have welcomed the government initiative to develop separate estates for plastic goods and automobile spare parts and assembling industries. If implemented, such estates will certainly encourage entrepreneurs of spare motor parts manufacturing sector.
Upgrading of lifestyle has been widening the market for plastic products. Plastic goods have already a good market abroad and establishment of the separate estate will further encourage entrepreneurs to set up more sophisticated high-end industries. Local market of plastic goods has crossed Tk 10 billion, while plastic furniture market would be above Tk 1.0 billion now.
Currently, plastics are being exported from Bangladesh as accessories of various export items like garments, tea, jute etc. and finished goods. Plastic packaging material for export-oriented readymade garments, jute, tea leather, fish and the packaging for all other export items are now being manufactured by the local plastic industries.
The main problems with the country's plastic industry are higher production costs driven by high import duty and mandatory bank guarantee provision in case of import of raw materials. It is thus necessary that the government should declare the plastic industry as a 'thrust sector' providing all facilities to exporters in line with its policy. In order to boost export of plastic products, the government must cut the production and shipment costs. But the concerned authorities are yet to take such steps.
For its tremendous growth and inevitability, plastics sector has already been recognised as a major sector worldwide like textile and steel. The growth of plastic industry and the export of plastic items form the Asian countries have increased by more than 10 per cent each year on an average for the last 10 years. Currently, per capita yearly consumption of plastic product in Bangladesh is only 1.5 kg while in the USA, it is 165 kg and in China 4.0 kg. This is because the developed nations are enjoying the advantages of plastic technology at a rate much higher than those of under developed ones. Bangladesh, China and Malaysia are among others, taking advantages and earning the lion's share of US plastic market. As China recently has come under the US criticism for dumping products, a window of opportunity has opened up for Bangladesh to export its products to the US.
Plastic industry is growing rapidly and contributing a lot to the national economy but the government's attitude to this promising sector is not positive, according to the manufacturers. Businessmen involved in it have not been able to improve goodwill of the sector and also failed to inform the policymakers of the positive sides of the industry as their attitude is negative about this sector.
The industry is also facing difficulties due to image crises driven by ban on polythene bags. But the fact is -- plastics are the most eco-friendly materials, and the most misunderstood too. Unfortunately, propagation of half-backed information and ill-founded concepts against plastics tend to malign the sincere efforts of the plastic industry.
................................................................
szkhan@thefinancialexpress-bd.com
The Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) implemented this new method of road surfacing in three roads back in 2005-06 using crammed rubber polymers. The trials show that the roads had 84 percent, 57 percent and 15 percent less cracks and depressions than conventionally constructed roads. Highly volatile and low quality bitumen, thin layer of surfacing, moisture pollution and soft brick aggregates make roads vulnerable and modified bitumen can bind the layers better. Materials used in the upper two layers, base and surfacing, of three-layer roads are not suitable for Bangladesh considering the climate and traffic load. The thin bituminous surface cannot deal with the traffic load and the weather. Bitumen and plastic originate from petroleum and are thermoplastic in nature. Plastic waste can be used instead of virgin plastic, which is costly.
Performance of a test result in India shows that the life of roads was doubled and the roads became more resistant to water damages when they were constructed by mixing plastic waste with bitumen. The technology was successfully implemented in Canada, Brazil, and the Indian cities of Bangalore, Mumbai, and Chennai.
Due to widespread use of plastic bags, bottles and containers, substantial amount of plastic waste is available in Dhaka and other cities of the country. At present, 0.15 million tonnes of plastic waste can easily be collected every year in Bangladesh. The plastic industry now contributes about over 0.50 percent to GDP. The industry has created employment for about half a million people in the fields such as PVC pipe, garments accessories, polythene bag, artificial leather, jute and textile spares, toys, plastic waste recycling, computer accessories, auto lighting and plastic furniture. Exports earning from the sector, comprising of about 3,000 manufacturers, almost doubled from US$ 28.8 million in the fiscal year 2003-04 to $53.6 million in the fiscal year 2004-05. The sector earned $56.6 million in 2005-06.
Now the future of plastic goods industry hinges mainly on the performance of the country's garment industry. The industry will grow and perform well if the garment sector continues to perform well. In Bangladesh, Bengal Plastic manufactures various garment accessories such as hangers, poly bag, carton sealing tapes, and strapping band. The company also makes containers for paint factories, moulded furniture and various injection moulded parts for different industrial applications.
Meanwhile, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) Sunday said it has imposed the condition of providing 100 per cent bank guarantee on import of plastic raw materials under the bond facility to thwart market distortion and revenue leakage. It has blamed a section of importers of plastic raw materials for abuse of the bond facility. They do it by selling the imported goods in the local market. Such a practice of the importers is leading to an uneven competition among the commercial and bond-licensed importers. The NBR has found some evidences of abusing the bond facility.
In a clarification on the plastic raw material importers' demand of bank guarantee withdrawal, the revenue board said: 'The concerned importers under the bonded warehouse facility are demanding only withdrawal of 100 per cent bank guarantee, which could create misconception.' The government has ordered it only for those, who will not be able to import plastic raw materials with inscription of the statement 'Imported under bond, not for sale' in indelible ink.
In the proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal, the government has made it mandatory to inscribe the statement on packets of plastic raw materials imported under the bond facility. It has waived the earlier rule of using the punching method. If any importer fails to import with inscription of the statement on plastic bags, they have to give 100 per cent bank guarantee to release those products under the bond facility.
With its 2,000 factories, Bangladesh is capable of producing world-class plastic products that have a global market of US$500 billion. The export of plastic products has been rising every year. The products worth Tk 14.43.billion were exported during the last fiscal, which was Tk 6.66 billion in the previous year. Unfortunately, inadequate supply of raw materials has become a major obstacle to the export of the plastic products.
Meanwhile, the government has planned to set up exclusive industrial estates for plastic and automobile industries, the country's two promising sectors. The proposed industrial estates, expected in suitable places near Dhaka, will provide land and infrastructure facilities to manufacturers of plastic goods and auto parts, both for local and export markets.
The state-run Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation had sent the project concept paper to the planning commission. Private sector leaders have welcomed the government initiative to develop separate estates for plastic goods and automobile spare parts and assembling industries. If implemented, such estates will certainly encourage entrepreneurs of spare motor parts manufacturing sector.
Upgrading of lifestyle has been widening the market for plastic products. Plastic goods have already a good market abroad and establishment of the separate estate will further encourage entrepreneurs to set up more sophisticated high-end industries. Local market of plastic goods has crossed Tk 10 billion, while plastic furniture market would be above Tk 1.0 billion now.
Currently, plastics are being exported from Bangladesh as accessories of various export items like garments, tea, jute etc. and finished goods. Plastic packaging material for export-oriented readymade garments, jute, tea leather, fish and the packaging for all other export items are now being manufactured by the local plastic industries.
The main problems with the country's plastic industry are higher production costs driven by high import duty and mandatory bank guarantee provision in case of import of raw materials. It is thus necessary that the government should declare the plastic industry as a 'thrust sector' providing all facilities to exporters in line with its policy. In order to boost export of plastic products, the government must cut the production and shipment costs. But the concerned authorities are yet to take such steps.
For its tremendous growth and inevitability, plastics sector has already been recognised as a major sector worldwide like textile and steel. The growth of plastic industry and the export of plastic items form the Asian countries have increased by more than 10 per cent each year on an average for the last 10 years. Currently, per capita yearly consumption of plastic product in Bangladesh is only 1.5 kg while in the USA, it is 165 kg and in China 4.0 kg. This is because the developed nations are enjoying the advantages of plastic technology at a rate much higher than those of under developed ones. Bangladesh, China and Malaysia are among others, taking advantages and earning the lion's share of US plastic market. As China recently has come under the US criticism for dumping products, a window of opportunity has opened up for Bangladesh to export its products to the US.
Plastic industry is growing rapidly and contributing a lot to the national economy but the government's attitude to this promising sector is not positive, according to the manufacturers. Businessmen involved in it have not been able to improve goodwill of the sector and also failed to inform the policymakers of the positive sides of the industry as their attitude is negative about this sector.
The industry is also facing difficulties due to image crises driven by ban on polythene bags. But the fact is -- plastics are the most eco-friendly materials, and the most misunderstood too. Unfortunately, propagation of half-backed information and ill-founded concepts against plastics tend to malign the sincere efforts of the plastic industry.
................................................................
szkhan@thefinancialexpress-bd.com