VATIS UPDATE Article

Byfusion, New Zealand, has developed a technology that turns plastic waste into building blocks. This is a proprietary technology specifically designed to upcycle waste plastic. It uses water held under pressure at very high temperatures ranging from 100°C and 374°C, and compression, but it does not melt or otherwise degrade the polymers in the plastic. ByFusion’s machine turns the waste plastic into an alternative building material which it calls RePlast.

The bricks can help improve the eco-friendly status of building projects and contribute to LEED certification. Needing no glue or adhesives, RePlast blocks could represent the next wave of sustainable construction, since they are completely recycled from collected waste plastic (with no discrimination for plastic type) and have 95-percent lower greenhouse gas emissions than traditional concrete block. Due to the nature of plastic debris, the blocks are a lot more colorful, too. The blocks have undergone testing to ensure that they comply with various building requirements related to compression and shear strength.

ByFusion is working hard to make sure that their blocks comply with international requirements. In New Zealand and California these blocks have been used to construct retaining walls without showing signs of degradation. In areas prone to earthquakes these blocks may even be more suitable than concrete blocks, because they are flexible. The ByFusion process works with pretty much any type of plastic, with the exception of foamed plastics such as polystyrene as these materials lack the structural integrity required for upcycling into building blocks. But coming up with a way to upcycle waste plastic is only a small part of the story.