Roorkee (The Hawk): Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IIT Roorkee)and Y. B. Scientific R&D Solutions, Roorkee, jointly developed PRAYASPR. It is a process to produce cement free paver block and wall tiles from waste polyethylene packets/ milk packets and oil packets in an environment friendly way. The waste plastics have been used as a binder and waste stone dust has been used as additives along with some dying chemicals in the development. The PRAYASPR technology reduces CO2footprint by around one third with respect to concrete paver blocks. These products have also a better interlocking and aesthetic look, long lifetime. These are non-breakable and have fair resale value.
To prepare one paver block around 250 g of waste plastics is used and to cover a 1 sq ft surface area around 1.5 kg of waste plastics will be needed. The production cost of the paver black is around Rs 45per sq ft which is highly competitive with the conventional paver blocks available in the market. Per piece, the production price is around Rs 7-8. The tiles will be more economic than the paver blocks with per square feet production cost of around Rs 14 only. Both small scale and large-scale production modules are available with an initial capital investment of Rs 25 lakhs and Rs 40 lakhs, respectively. The payback period is around 3.5 years for small scale and 2.5 years for large scale plants, respectively.
The team members included Prof. Prasenjit Mondal, Mr. Hemant Goyal, Navneeta Lal, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Roorkee and Mr. Yash Dua, Y.B. Scientific R&D Solution Roorkee, Ramnagar.
Taking about the process, Prof, Ajit K Chaturvedi, Director IIT Roorkee, pointed out, The PRAYASPR technology is a proprietary technology of IIT Roorkee. It can be an attractive option for managing plastic wastes by the waste producers as per the Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules 2021. Pointing out the necessity for PRAYASPR, Yash Dua, Y.B. Scientific R&D Solution Roorkee, Ramnagar, said,“The plastic waste generated in India was close to 34 lakh tons in the year 2019-20 with an annual increase of more than 21%. And this plastic waste contains low density polyethylene (LDPE) which creates a problem by choking sewer lines. Moreover, in India waste plastics form widespread littering on the landscape due to the lack of proper management techniques producing harmful environmental consequences. Thus, a sustainable route for waste plastics management was a necessity which has been realized with PRAYASPR under the auspices of IIT Roorkee."
Team member, Prof. Prasenjit Mondal, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Roorkee, explained, "The technology involves recycling of waste polyethylene packets for development of cement less paver blocks taking the sustainable route. Plastic packets are first shredded to form granules which are then mixed with additives to soften and further form a slurry which is then molded in a hydraulic press to form blocks. The products may be used in building premises, monument premises, landscapes, public gardens and parks, domestic drives, paths and floor tiles, among others in an eco-friendly way”.