Even as we choke our world with plastic waste, there are people trying to address the problem – and one of the ways is by incorporating waste plastic into other materials such as the asphalt with which we pave roads. And it turns out that there is a lot more of this going on than I ever realized, as I discovered when I looked further into a story I read the other day

The Guardian reported on a project in the rapidly-growing area of Kollam in Kerala state in India. Fishermen collect plastic that is caught up in their nets and unload it at the harbour instead of throwing it back in the sea. Women’s self-help groups then sort it so it can be chopped up and sold to local construction companies to add to the road surfacing material.