Bricks made from recycled PET bottles

In Argentina, 12 million plastic bottles are discarded each day, of which only 15 per cent is recycled. Simultaneously, 3 million Argentines lack decent housing. The non-profit Ecoinclusion Foundation decided to kill two birds with one stone, developing ecological bricks made with recycled plastic bottles.

Ecoinclusion was founded in 2014 to promote helping to solve the environmental and infrastructure problems in the region of Córdoba, Argentina. It does so by manufacturing quality eco-friendly building elements that are used in buildings with a social impact.

The PET bricks, developed and patented by CONICET, are made of a mixture of recycled PET, cement and various additives. One brick contains 1 kilogram of recycled plastic. The bricks have the same properties as common ceramic bricks, but are lighter and have better insulating and sound-proofing properties.

The production of the bricks has 3 objectives: to reduce plastic pollution, help vulnerable sectors of society, and generate awareness about the importance of recycling.

In 2017, Ecoinclusion was the winner of the Google.org challenge. The award was given to carry out the project not only in the province of Córdoba, but to copy the model other in Argentina’s cities and other Latin American countries, carried out by local NGO’s.

Photos: Ecoinclusion