RECYCLING: USED PET BOTTLES TO BRICK/PAVERS

 Do you know that used pet bottles can be recycled to something useful?

Lagos for instance produces about 30,000 tonnes of plastic waste per day and only 30 percent of these waste are recycled.

Bricks made from pet bottles (plastic waste) is tested to be stronger than conventional bricks, it is also better in terms of valuation, water absorption, and compressive strength. Cement being the most significant agent of binding for building brick and with the seasonal fluctuation in its price especially in Nigeria, it can be replaced with plastics.

Procedure:

1.     Pet bottles are collected and labels are removed

2.     A pan is put on fire and the pet bottles are put into the pan

3.     The bottles burns and sand is put into the mixture while you stir until it gets to viscous level

4.     The mixture is hurriedly put into the mold that will form the desired shape of the brick/pavers.

5.     After a while the brick/pavers is removed from the mold and can be laid immediately.

This procedure if followed can be carried out in the kitchen or in the garden. Industrially, a plastic Densifier is the machine used to melt the plastic.

Pavers made of plastics unlike concrete pavers does not have air pockets which brings about cracking and also carries 3 times impact than concrete pavers.

Hazard of Plastics to the Environment

When plastics are fed by marine animals and we eat the animals, our healthy is in danger, these plastics can as well be detrimental to the environment by block drainages. Therefore circular packaging is the way to go and a better alternative to a sustainable life for all.