Plastic waste as an input into road production has been in play for over a decade in different locales, although mixes should be carefully studied per region. Different combinations can having lasting effects on the durability of the road in terms of how easily it cracks. Only plastic waste without food waste residues is suitable as an input into a plastic road and therefore, because there is much of that in the country, it is not the only circular economy strategy that is appropriate to handle waste locally,

Plastic waste is a problem in Malaysia for multiple reasons, arriving in ocean currents, being imported following China's plastic import ban, and through illegal importing as well. Although Malaysia has multiple strategies in place to reduce this waste entering the country, there is exploration as to how to handle it internally as well. In parallell, within construction of roads, the conventional asphalt for paving "is losing its lustre due to its short lifespan, which has led to higher road maintenance costs for Malaysia."

The Public Works Department's Centre of Excellence for Engineering and Technology (CREaTE) in Malaysia began to experiment with combining plastic and asphalt to create roads. CREaTE used plastic waste purchased from a factory in Kuantan, Pahang. which processes "plastic waste disposed of by factories and shopping malls, and not plastic waste found at garbage disposal sites" They are conducting various studies over the course of 2 years in several locations - although they study should end soon! (2020) and in those studies , but also drawing from experience in other countries such as India.