A crusading Indian scientist is at the forefront of a movement to use more plastic technologies to fix India's failing roads. In 2002, Rajagopalan Vasudevan used his now-patented bitumin-modified plastic pavement on a 60-ft road with plastic-modified bitumen. Since then, almost 10,000 kilometers of Indian roads have been paved using his technique, which improves the tensile strength of the road and prevents pothole formation. When the layer of molten plastic filled the space between the gravel and bitumen it thwarted rain water from seeping in.

Plastic waste affects citizens and environments everywhere, but the impact is particularly pronounced in India. India produces 15,000 metric tons of plastic waste daily. In 2017, a garbage slide from a towering landfill killed citizens in East Delhi. However, this same plastic could also be part of the solution for another problem affecting Indians — potholes.  It has been estimated that over 10,000 motorists are killed each year due to pothole-related accidents on India’s 5,472,144-km road network.