According to WPB, India has taken a new step toward incorporating recycled plastic directly into road binders, with a pilot test section on National Highway 44 (NH-44) in Jhansi using Waste Plastic Modified Bitumen (W-PMB 76-10). The approximately one-kilometer demonstration was laid on September 24, 2026, as a field trial of a wet-process technology developed by IIT (BHU), Varanasi, under a research program supported by India’s Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. The performance of the pilot will be monitored over time to assess its engineering behavior and suitability for wider road construction applications.
The project is significant because it takes waste plastic utilization in Indian roads a step beyond the more familiar dry-process approach. In the dry process, processed plastic is introduced with aggregates during preparation of the bituminous mix. The new approach instead processes selected waste plastic and incorporates it directly into bitumen before the binder is used in the road mix. Project officials have described the Jhansi section as the first pilot of this specific wet-mix approach on an Indian national highway.
The technology uses low-density polyethylene (LDPE), a widely used thermoplastic that can be recovered from discarded products such as irrigation pipes, files and plastic folders. According to project information, the waste material is processed with the support of local recyclers and micro, small and medium enterprises. This gives the technology an industrial dimension beyond pavement engineering by connecting waste collection and processing with road-material production.
One of the most commercially relevant claims is the potential reduction in conventional bitumen consumption. Officials associated with the project estimate that the technology could reduce conventional bitumen use by around 4 percent. They have also estimated that the modified material could cost approximately 20 percent less than conventional bitumen. These figures should be treated as project-stage estimates rather than established commercial results, because the Jhansi section is still a pilot and its long-term field performance is being monitored.
The potential 4 percent reduction is particularly relevant to India because the country's road sector is a major consumer of paving materials and a substantial share of domestic bitumen requirements is met through imports. A technology that uses locally recovered plastic as part of a modified binder could therefore reduce the quantity of conventional binder required for selected applications. The scale of any future impact on imports, however, would depend on technical validation, standards, supply consistency and whether the technology is adopted across large road projects.
The engineering rationale is also important. Laboratory evaluations cited by project officials indicate that LDPE-modified bitumen can provide improved resistance to moisture damage and rutting at high temperatures. The modified binder is reported to increase stiffness and high-temperature performance, characteristics that can be useful in pavements exposed to heavy axle loads and elevated ambient temperatures. These findings provide the technical basis for testing the material under actual traffic and weather conditions rather than relying only on laboratory results.
Rutting is particularly relevant to Indian highways because permanent deformation can become a serious pavement-performance issue under a combination of high temperatures and heavy traffic. A binder that performs better at elevated temperatures could potentially extend the useful performance of an asphalt layer, although the actual benefit will depend on the complete pavement structure, aggregate characteristics, mix design, construction quality and maintenance conditions.
The new wet-process approach may also have implications for the market for conventional polymer modifiers. Project officials have highlighted the possibility of reducing dependence on imported polymers used for bitumen modification. If waste LDPE can be processed consistently and incorporated into binders at industrial scale, part of the modifier requirement could potentially come from domestic waste streams rather than conventional polymer supply chains. This remains a development opportunity rather than an established market shift, because consistent waste quality, processing capacity and binder compatibility will be important factors in any future deployment.
The distinction between a laboratory technology and a commercial road material is therefore central to the current story. IIT (BHU) is expected to monitor the Jhansi pilot to evaluate long-term engineering performance and field suitability. The demonstration represents a transition from research and material development toward field validation, but it does not yet establish that W-PMB 76-10 is ready to replace conventional binders across the national highway network.
This is also why the 20 percent cost claim should be interpreted cautiously. Material economics at laboratory or pilot scale can differ from costs at larger production volumes. The final commercial cost would depend on the price and availability of suitable waste plastic, collection and sorting, processing, blending equipment, quality control, storage, transport and the requirements of the road project. If these elements can be managed efficiently, the technology could offer an additional economic pathway for road construction. If not, the nominal material saving may not translate directly into the same reduction in delivered project cost.
The potential environmental benefit is more direct. India generates large volumes of plastic waste, and the project provides another controlled route for using selected plastic waste in infrastructure. By incorporating processed LDPE into a pavement binder, the approach could create a value-added use for waste that would otherwise require separate collection, recycling or disposal. At the same time, the long-term environmental performance of the modified binder needs to be assessed alongside its engineering performance before large-scale deployment.
Another important feature is the involvement of local recyclers and MSMEs in preparing the waste material. This suggests that the technology could eventually support a decentralized supply model in which waste collection, processing and road-material manufacturing are linked. For the asphalt industry, such a model could become relevant in regions where suitable polymer feedstock is expensive or where local governments are seeking ways to combine waste-management programs with road investment.
The development also adds a new dimension to India’s already established use of waste plastic in road construction. Plastic has previously been introduced into bituminous road works through dry-mix methods, and the country has accumulated experience with recycled plastic in pavement applications. The new pilot does not replace those methods automatically. Instead, it tests whether a controlled wet-process binder can deliver more uniform incorporation and useful binder-level performance.
For bitumen suppliers, the most important question is whether such technologies can materially change future binder demand. At the current stage, the answer cannot be established. A 4 percent potential reduction in conventional bitumen use is meaningful at project level, but the effect on national import demand would depend on the number of roads using the technology and the amount of binder replaced across the network. It would be premature to interpret the Jhansi pilot as evidence of a broad decline in India’s bitumen market.
The development may instead create a more differentiated binder market. Conventional paving grades would continue to serve applications where standard specifications remain appropriate, while modified binders could increasingly be selected for projects seeking higher temperature performance, recycling benefits or alternative material inputs. This would shift part of the discussion from the volume of bitumen consumed toward the performance and composition of the binder used.
For international bitumen traders, India therefore remains an important market to watch, but the relevant signal is not simply whether imports rise or fall. The more useful indicators will be whether the W-PMB approach receives additional field validation, whether specifications are developed or updated for wider use, whether additional highway projects adopt the technology, and whether commercial production becomes available at a consistent quality and cost.
The patent element also indicates that the technology is moving beyond a laboratory concept toward intellectual-property and commercialization considerations. Project officials have said that the technology has recently received a patent, while IIT (BHU) records also show active patent work by Professor Ankit Gupta and his research team in the area of bituminous products and waste polymers.
For the broader asphalt industry, the significance of the Jhansi trial may ultimately extend beyond plastic waste. It reflects a wider effort to modify pavement materials using locally available resources while maintaining or improving engineering performance. Similar developments in recycled asphalt, bio-based binders and alternative modifiers are gradually expanding the range of materials available to pavement engineers.
As of September 27, 2026, the most accurate interpretation is therefore that India is testing a potentially useful new binder technology rather than announcing a replacement for conventional bitumen. The approximately one-kilometer NH-44 section provides a real-world opportunity to evaluate whether W-PMB 76-10 can maintain the laboratory advantages reported for rutting, moisture resistance and high-temperature performance under traffic and environmental exposure.
If the field results confirm the laboratory findings and the economics remain attractive, the technology could eventually provide three benefits at the same time: a new use for selected plastic waste, lower dependence on conventional polymer modifiers and a modest reduction in conventional bitumen requirements for eligible pavement applications.
For the bitumen market, the key point is not that plastic-modified binders will immediately reduce demand. It is that binder technology is becoming more diversified, and India’s large road construction program provides a significant testing ground for materials that can combine performance, cost and recycling objectives. The Jhansi pilot is therefore worth monitoring as a potential indicator of how future road-binder demand could evolve.
By WPB
News, Bitumen, Asphalt, India, Waste Plastic, W-PMB 76-10, Modified Bitumen, NH-44, Road Construction, Pavement Technology, Recycling, LDPE
