Green tech innovation by TN college researchers replaces 70% sand in concrete with shredded plastic

A green tech innovation by researchers from a Tamil Nadu college tackles two environmental problems -- conserving sand, the second-most used natural resource, and cutting down plastic!

A team of researchers from Sona College of Technology, Salem, in Tamil Nadu, has patented a unique method of replacing up to 70 percent sand in concrete with shredded plastic, tackling two of the biggest environmental issues faced by the world in the 21st century in the process.

The technology will help save the second most used natural resource -- sand -- while simultaneously helping cut down the landfills from growing taller with waste plastic bottles.

India consumes nearly 70 million tons of sand annually to meet its infrastructure demands and this usage is growing at 7 percent per annum.

At the same time, over 5 million tons of plastic are consumed each year, with only about a quarter being recycled and the rest ending up in landfills.

Surprising though it may sound, sand is the basic building block of construction and forms a big chunk of the concrete used in the structures we see in modern cities be it malls, offices or residences.

The innovation converting plastic waste into useable construction material can be used to partially replace the traditional concrete ingredient.

The Sona College team of inventors -- Dr R Malathy, Dr SRR Senthil Kumar, N Karuppasamy and K Dhinesh Babu -- worked on the invention that earned them the patent 'Effect of recycled plastic wastes as partial replacement for fine aggregate in manufacturing paver blocks' in 2019. The final patent was assigned in early 2022.