ITB Students’ Innovation of Turning Plastic Waste and Palm Fiber into Road Pavement Material
BANDUNG, itb.ac.id—As an educational institution, Institut Teknologi Bandung always strives to innovate and solve environmental issues. This promise is reflected by Team Kuy(a+i) consisting of four civil engineering students- Octaviani Nur Rahmawati, Dewangga Syahputra, Ilyas Bianto, and Romi Putra Radiansyah- who have created a layer of asphalt via plastic and organic waste treatment. They use plastic waste and powdered palm fibers as materials for road pavement. Utilization of such waste can become a pioneer in the usage of renewable and environmentally friendly resources in Indonesia.
Frequent traffic accidents and costly road maintenance has inspired the team to maximize the potential of waste utilization and formulate an innovation in perpetual pavement using split mastic asphalt.
This type of pavement contains additives that are HDPE (High-Density Polyethylene) plastic waste and powdered palm fibers. Modifying the usual nature of asphalt, the team’s newly made pavement has longer service life to reduce the need for reconstruction. With less maintenance, expense can be minimized, along with reduced carbon gas emissions. "Reduction in waste is related to its social impact," Romi explained.
Their idea has won them the champion title at Think Efficiency 2022 organized by Shell Indonesia and ECADIN (Energy Academy Indonesia). Among hundreds of teams in Indonesia that participated in the sustainability category, their idea was chosen as the best.
The team’s achievement was fully supported by their supervisor Dr. Harmein Rahman, S. T, M. T. as well as the entire team of laboratory assistants and technicians of the ITB Highway and Traffic Engineering Laboratory, who helped with testing the samples.
Romi added that their team’s innovation gained the interest of others who are active in the waste collecting sector. Based on observations, the modification of the pavement layer has posting points in regard to its safety aspect. The asphalt coating reduces chances of slips due to microtexture and macrotexture improvements that increase the roughness of the surface.
After joining the competition, Team Kuy(a+i) plans to further develop their research, hoping to consult with experts in the field of road pavements. They thought that the issue regarding road pavements is very important because standardization of their research does not exist yet in Indonesia.
Reporter: Hanan Fadhilah Ramadhani (Civil Engineering, 2019)
Translator: Ruth Nathania (Environmental Engineering, 2019)
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