The Thiagarajar College of Engineering (TCE) in Madurai shelters three important things: India’s only Centre for Plastic Waste Management funded by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, stretches of plastic road on campus, and a quake-bullet-water-proof model of a toilet made with ‘plastone’ (plastic plus stone).

The credit goes to Prof R Vasudevan, a retired chemistry professor who has spent the last two decades researching and implementing the purposeful reuse of waste plastic. “Plastic is my resource,” he says, as we make our way to his lab, walking past heaps of plastic wrappers, discarded carry bags, and plastic bottles.

In the lab, he takes his seat on a swivel chair retrieved from the college junkyard years ago. Shredding and block-making machines, ovens, equipment that checks the weight, pressure and texture of his products fill up the room. He points to a rusted iron kadai by his side and smiles, “This is where the experiment began and continues.”.....Read more

Source web page: The Hindu