Plastic Houses

The 21st century has seen a boom in plastic recycling as a result of the pollution crisis that is devastating the planet. People everywhere are trying to put old plastic to good use by recycling it into a variety of objects.

While plastic is commonly made into everything from fleece jackets and sleeping bags to carpets and bottles, a company in Colombia has taken the ambitious step of turning old plastic into building bricks for new houses.



Building bricks

A company in Bogota, Conceptos Plásticos, is transforming plastic (and also rubber) waste into a viable construction material. In a nation where 700 tons of plastic are thrown away daily (with only 100 tons recycled), architect Oscar Mendez' company is beginning to change all that.

Conceptos Plásticos uses the unique construction material to build houses for people who need them across Colombia. The scheme is taking recycling to a whole new level.

Mendez and his colleagues, Isabel Cristina and Henry Cañon, started the scheme with the goal of reducing the amount of waste plastic impacting on the environment. They were joined by Jesus Mendez and Fernando Llanos, who shared their goal. This was the birth of Conceptos Plásticos.

Tackling problems

Their innovative idea will tackle two pressing problems: first, the mountain of waste plastic being dumped in landfill sites; and secondly, the population boom in Latin American countries, which is leaving a shortage of quality housing.

A survey by Techo revealed 80% of Latin America's population lives in cities, while a report presented at the World Economic Forum revealed that some 309 million tons of plastic was manufactured in the region in one year alone.

Mendez realises plastic is a problem everywhere and not just in Colombia. He also recognises that people will always need a roof over their head and turning waste products into building bricks could tackle both problems simultaneously. He believes discarded plastic can provide a sustainable construction material to build the housing of the future.

Community involvement

He is involving the whole community in the project, including the people set to benefit from new housing. Representatives of Conceptos Plásticos have visited schools and community groups, encouraging people to collect waste plastic products and also old tyres to turn into building bricks.

Public participation is needed to help collect the massive amounts of waste products that they will need. Waste materials are cleaned, ground into a powder, melted, mixed and extruded into various shapes – mostly blocks, beams and pillars. These are locked together to create buildings.

The company is also training people in the local community to build the structures themselves. This gives them complete ownership of their own home, while the skills they learn can be used elsewhere to gain employment.

The great thing about the plastic homes is that they can be assembled fast. For example, a house with two bedrooms, one living room, a bathroom, dining room and kitchen can be constructed in five days by just four people.

Fast and easy

The plastic houses cost a lot less than traditional building systems too: a standard two-bedroom house, with an area of 40 square metres, costs only $5,200 to construct.

The interlocking bricks are rather like Lego blocks, in that they don't need adhesive to hold them together - it is easy to simply lock them together. This means they are also a good choice for mobile shelters. The plastic mix won't biodegrade for 500 years, so it offers a sturdy, durable shelter that will last for centuries. It is also earthquake-resistant, fireproof and requires only minimal maintenance.

To date, Conceptos Plásticos has built temporary shelters for 42 families who have been left homeless due to violence, three permanent shelters and eight houses. Plans are in the pipeline to build 20 more houses in the port city of Cartagena, on Colombia’s Caribbean coast.

Recycling milestone

The project has been widely recognised as a milestone in plastic recycling and construction. Mendez reached the final of The Venture – a competition held in New York that offered funding to businesses who created positive changes in the world. He received $300,000 of the finalists' $1 million prize fund.

Extra funding will enable Conceptos Plásticos to improve their processing procedures and produce more building materials for new homes. It also means they can look further afield, involving more people in their eco-friendly project.

The company is looking at other new product options to reuse the hundreds of thousands of tons of plastic that is dumped. Mendez says they are looking to do "something big", but he hasn't revealed details yet.

Cities of the future can't be built without science and engineering, so reusing plastic to create a stable and cheap building material seems to be a huge step forward, which more people should be considering.

Solent Plastics caters to UK and worldwide customers, specialising in plastic storage boxes and containers, including recycling waste bins. We do not sell single-use plastics!

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