Alexei Volkov
Plastic pollution is a pressing issue, with an estimated 90% of plastic waste ending up in our oceans coming from low-income countries. Recycled plastic bricks offer a potential solution, providing an affordable, accessible, and durable alternative to conventional building materials. Precious Plastic and Recycle Rebuild have developed a brick that sequesters 1.5 kg of plastic waste, designed to work alone or alongside standard building methods. The bricks are currently in the final stages of development, with the how-to guides already released on an open-source platform. Additionally, Precious Plastic offers a Bricks Starter Kit, providing the necessary resources, platforms, tools, and support for producing recycled plastic bricks. Another company, ByFusion, offers a platform that repurposes non-recyclable plastic waste into a reusable building material called ByBlock. For those interested in purchasing recycled plastic bricks, options are available on Amazon, although stock may be limited.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Name of recycled plastic bricks | Precious Plastic Bricks |
| Where to buy | Precious Plastic website or Amazon |
| What's included | Three lasercut steel moulds, accessory furniture, ventilation caddy, recycling posters, badges, one-on-one support, counselling and guidance |
| Weight of each brick | 1.5 kg of recycled plastic |
| Plastic type | High-density polyethylene (HDPE #2) or polypropylene (PP #5) |
| Production rate | 1 brick every 4 minutes |
| Team required | 1-2 people |
| Workspace required | 50 sqm |
| Source of plastic | Locally recycled shredded plastic |
| Additional services | Onsite workspace setup, 30 hours of ongoing digital support, promotional video |
| Country availability | Kenya, Maldives, Chile, Bangladesh |
| Use cases | Small-scale building projects, enclosures, sheds, privacy fencing, perimeter walls, accent walls, municipal seat walls, terracing, landscaping |
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What You'll Learn
Precious Plastic's Brick Starterkit
Precious Plastic is an organisation that provides resources, platforms, and tools to help people tackle the plastic waste problem. They have developed an open-source recycling machine that can recycle plastic waste into bricks, sequestering 1.5 kg of plastic waste per brick. The bricks are designed to be affordable, accessible, and durable, making them ideal for low-income nations and countries affected by natural disasters.
The Precious Plastics Brick Starterkit provides everything needed to start producing recycled plastic bricks. The kit uses the Extruder Pro to recycle plastic waste into bricks, producing one brick approximately every four minutes. It comes with three laser-cut steel moulds to create different shapes for modular building. The kit also includes accessory furniture, a ventilation caddy, recycling posters, badges, and other materials to assist in setting up a space for brick production.
In addition to the physical resources, the Brick Starterkit offers one-on-one support, counselling, and guidance from the Precious Plastic team. This includes a digital session on machine setup, maintenance, and safety, as well as optional upgrades for additional support. The team can even set up your workspace onsite and provide ongoing digital support or a promotional video.
To run a workspace producing bricks using the Starterkit, Precious Plastic recommends having a small team of at least 1-2 people and a space of at least 50 square metres to operate comfortably and safely. It is also important to find a source of locally recycled shredded plastic to use as raw material for the brick-making process. With the Brick Starterkit, individuals or organisations can join the Precious Plastic ecosystem and collaborate with others worldwide to tackle plastic waste and create sustainable building solutions.
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Amazon's plastic bricks
Amazon stocks a variety of plastic bricks, including those for landscaping, building walls, and gardens. These bricks are suitable for children aged 6 and up and are eligible for free shipping.
In addition to the bricks themselves, Amazon also offers a selection of small business brands that sell products related to plastic bricks. These businesses partner with Amazon to sell their products through the Amazon store.
For those interested in a more hands-on approach, Amazon may not be the best option. Other websites offer "Brick Starter Kits," which provide individuals with the resources, platforms, and tools to produce recycled plastic bricks independently. These kits include steel moulds, accessory furniture, and one-on-one support from the provider.
One such provider is Precious Plastic, which offers a "Brick Starter Kit" that enables individuals to tap into the Precious Plastic Universe. This kit includes everything needed to start producing recycled plastic bricks and can be upgraded with additional services, such as onsite workspace setup and ongoing digital support.
Another option is Recycle Rebuild, which has developed a recycled brick made from 100% recycled plastic. The designs for these bricks are open-source and available for free on their website. With each brick sequestering 1.5kg of plastic waste, they are designed to work alone as load-bearing units or alongside standard building methods.
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Recycle Rebuild's recycled brick
The recycled brick was developed in collaboration with Precious Plastic, a Netherlands-based organisation, and is intended to be more cost-effective and durable than EcoBricks. By sequestering plastic waste, the bricks help reduce environmental pollution and provide a long-lasting building solution. The bricks are easy to produce, with the Precious Plastic ecosystem providing resources, platforms, tools, and a collaborative community for support.
The Recycle Rebuild brick aims to revolutionise the construction industry, particularly in low-income nations and areas affected by natural disasters. The bricks can be used to create low-cost, high-quality WASH facilities, housing, and rapidly constructed post-disaster shelters. Additionally, they can be easily deconstructed and rebuilt, making them a flexible and reusable option for communities.
While the bricks are still in their final stages of development, Recycle Rebuild has released instructions and information on Precious Plastic's open-source platform, enabling communities worldwide to access the knowledge and skills needed to create these bricks. The production process involves using the Bricks Starterkit, which includes the Extruder Pro machine and steel moulds, to recycle plastic waste into bricks.
The Bricks Starterkit provides a comprehensive solution for those interested in producing recycled plastic bricks. It offers the necessary equipment, accessories, and guidance to set up a brick-production workspace. With the starter kit, users can tap into the Precious Plastic ecosystem and access a wealth of resources and support. The kit also includes upgrades, such as onsite workspace setup, ongoing digital support, and promotional video options, to enhance users' projects.
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ByFusion's ByBlock
ByFusions ByBlock is an innovative and sustainable building material that is designed to revolutionize the construction industry. Made from recycled plastic waste, ByBlock offers an eco-friendly alternative to traditional building materials, helping to reduce the carbon footprint of construction projects.
ByFusion, the company behind ByBlock, is on a mission to decarbonize the planet by reshaping the future of plastic. With their advanced landfill diversion and transparency platform, they have created a way to repurpose non-recyclable plastic waste destined for landfills into a reusable and durable building material. ByBlock is a testament to their commitment to creating sustainable solutions that benefit both the environment and society.
ByBlock is an advanced, reusable building material that is designed to be used in a variety of construction applications. Each ByBlock is made from recycled plastic waste, sequestering 1.5 kg of plastic with each brick. The bricks are created using Precious Plastic's open-source recycling machines, allowing communities worldwide to access the knowledge and resources necessary to produce these bricks locally.
The unique design of ByBlock allows for rapid construction, with each brick interlocking like Lego and requiring only a hammer for assembly. This makes it an ideal solution for communities in need of quick and affordable housing, especially in low-income nations and areas affected by natural disasters. Additionally, ByBlock is versatile enough to work as a standalone load-bearing unit or in conjunction with standard building methods such as timber and metal.
ByFusions ByBlock offers a sustainable and innovative solution to the construction industry's carbon emissions problem while also addressing the global issue of plastic pollution. By repurposing non-recyclable plastic waste into a reusable building material, ByFusion has created an eco-friendly product that can help reduce the environmental impact of construction projects worldwide.
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DIY recycled plastic bricks
Producing your own recycled plastic bricks is a great way to help the environment and tap into a global community of like-minded people. The process is simple, and you can create 100% recycled plastic bricks for construction projects, disaster response, or design/art installations.
To get started, you'll need to purchase a Brick Starter Kit from Precious Plastic. This kit provides everything you need to produce recycled plastic bricks, including an Extruder Pro machine, three lasercut steel moulds, accessory furniture, a ventilation caddy, and other resources to set up your workspace. The Extruder Pro machine can produce one 1.5 kg brick every four minutes, made from recycled plastic waste. These bricks work best with high-density polyethylene (HDPE #2) or polypropylene (PP #5).
The Brick Starter Kit also gives you access to the Precious Plastic Universe, an ecosystem of resources, platforms, tools, and people collaborating worldwide. You can upgrade your kit with onsite workspace setup, ongoing digital support, or a promotional video. Precious Plastic has already set up workspaces in Kenya, the Maldives, Chile, and Bangladesh, and they can help you learn from their experiences in small-scale plastic recycling.
To run your own workspace, you'll need a small team of at least 1-2 people and a space of at least 50 square meters to operate safely. You'll also need to find a local source of recycled shredded plastic to use as raw material for your bricks. With the right setup and resources, you can quickly assemble modular bricks into small-scale building projects, contributing to a more sustainable future.
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Frequently asked questions
You can buy recycled plastic bricks from Precious Plastic, which provides a Brick Starter Kit that includes everything you need to get started producing recycled plastic bricks. You can also purchase plastic bricks from Amazon.com.
The Brick Starter Kit includes three laser-cut steel moulds to create all the shapes needed for modular building and continuous production. It also comes with accessory furniture, a ventilation caddy, recycling posters, badges, and other materials to help you set up your brick-production space.
You will need a workspace of at least 50 square meters to operate comfortably and safely.
Recycled plastic bricks aim to provide an affordable, accessible, and durable alternative for low-income nations and countries affected by natural disasters. They can also help reduce plastic pollution, as each brick sequesters 1.5 kg of plastic waste. Additionally, ByFusion offers an end-to-end landfill diversion platform that repurposes non-recyclable plastic waste into a reusable building material called ByBlock.
