Recycled concrete and asphalt are widely used in the construction industry for building, roads, and other structures. Research is ongoing to turn waste products into strong building materials, such as using recycled carbon fiber to create new engineered materials. For example, the Design Museum Gent is transforming broken concrete and glass waste into bricks for its façade.
Incorporating recycled and salvaged materials into home construction can reduce waste, conserve resources, and add unique features. Polymers like rubbers, elastomers, thermosets, and mixed plastic waste are considered “unrecyclable” by the recycling sector. Pallets can be used to create feature walls in bedrooms, walls, decks, furniture, and outbuildings. Pallets are often given away free from industrial plants that don’t use them.
Recycling and reusing building materials can make home renovation projects eco-friendly, cost-effective, and unique. Building a 100 sq. ft. tiny house for under $1500 using nearly 100 repurposed materials and 30 pounds of trash is a great way to make your renovation project eco-friendly, cost-effective, and unique.
To make your home renovation project eco-friendly, partner with local charities, create a materials reuse plan, know local recycling requirements, and create a recycling program. Explore the revolution of sustainable housing using recycled materials for insights on net-zero living, community impact, and the economics of eco-friendly living.
📹 How to Make Recycled BEAMS from Plastic Waste at Home
In this video, we wanted to test a method of making recycled plastic beams using our DIY recycling method melting milk bottle tops …
Can recycled plastic replace concrete?
Students at the University of Michigan have developed a “plastic concrete” by mixing cement with a fine powder of irradiated PET bottles. The concrete blocks were found to be up to 20% more stable than normal cement, suggesting that this technology could improve the stability of foundations, bridges, walkways, and barriers in the future. The addition of 1. 5 percent PET powder also improves the concrete structure. The technology also reduces emissions from concrete production and the amount of PET bottles that end up in landfills.
Michael Short from the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering believes that this technology can make buildings more stable while reducing waste and CO2 emissions. Although the environmental impact of the cement industry is still being tested, the “green” concrete mixture for load-bearing exterior walls is still pending building approval.
What are the six construction materials obtained by recycling?
The recycling of a vast array of construction materials, including concrete, masonry, wood, asphalt, shingles, metal, glass, plastics, carpet, and insulation, can be initiated on construction sites with the implementation of the following strategies.
What is the best way to do with reusable materials at home?
Reusing items, such as donating usable items to charities, repurposing containers, carrying reusable shopping bags, and converting old clothing into cleaning rags or cloths, can significantly reduce environmental impact. By rethinking purchasing habits, refilling water bottles, using bags for life, and composting at home, individuals can make a real difference. Additionally, buying loose fruit and vegetables and avoiding heavily packaged items can also contribute to a more sustainable lifestyle.
How to make a project with recycled materials?
This list of 9 easy recycling art projects for kids includes Bottle Cap Fish, Toilet Roll Bird Feeder, Recycled CD Spring Birds, Egg Carton Dragonfly, Water Bottle Fish, Tin Can Creatures, Homemade Wind Chimes, and Papier-mâché Plant Pots. These creative ways to use recycled items teach kids about the benefits of recycling and create colorful decorations for the garden. Bottle Cap Fish creates an underwater paradise filled with colorful fish, plants, and bubbles by collecting plastic bottle caps from water and drink bottles. Toilet Roll Bird Feeder is a bird-friendly project where toilet rolls are covered in peanut butter, rolled in bird seed, and hanged outside.
Can you build with recycled materials?
Reclaimed building materials are gaining popularity due to their environmental benefits and potential financial gain. These materials are often more durable and cost-effective on a small-scale, making them a popular choice for construction projects. However, large-scale supply is not yet sufficient, and some recycled materials can be costly. With climate change awareness and the need to reduce the industry’s carbon footprint, it is likely that recycled materials will become the industry standard.
Scientific developments in construction, such as the production of eco-materials like Ferrock, are expected to accelerate this process. Straw, a waste product, is often discarded or burned due to its lack of nutrients for animal feed. Concrete, a single tonne, generates over 50 times the energy of packed straw. Straw bales, a cost-effective thermal insulation material, are resistant to fire and have a low environmental impact.
How do you recycle old materials?
Unwanted items can be dropped off at recycling points, clothing and textile banks in supermarkets and local car parks, donated to registered charities and re-use organizations, or arranged by textile companies for fundraising purposes. High street retailers like Primark and M and S offer clothing donation banks in-store, also known as “bring back schemes”, to help raise money for causes like school, church, Girl Guides, or Scouts. Some organizations offer free collection services from home.
How can you recycle materials in your home?
Reusing and recycling at home can significantly reduce the environmental impact of products. Cardboard and plastic containers can be repurposed, such as using empty soda bottles for planting flowers and herbs, and using plastic bags as wrappers. Old clothing can be transformed into rags, and creative materials can be created from old clothing. The US Environmental Protection Agency suggests that sustainable materials can be reused multiple times throughout their product life cycle, increasing the efficiency of natural resources and keeping the environment green.
Cardboard and plastic containers can also be used for storing kitchen items and other small materials. Big two-liter bottles of soda can be cut off, washed, and used as flower pots. If you buy a lot of shoes, they can be used as storage bins for other household items like toiletries or cleaning utensils.
How to use recycled materials to make things?
Kids can create colorful garden decorations using recycled items. They can create Bottle Cap Fish, a school of friendly fish, and Toilet Roll Bird Feeder, a bird feeder. Create an underwater paradise filled with colorful fish, plants, and bubbles by collecting plastic bottle caps from water and drink bottles and painting them bright colors. Save toilet rolls and cover them in peanut butter and bird seed, then hang them outside to attract birds. These creative ways to use recycled items can teach kids about the benefits of recycling and encourage them to create beautiful art projects and colorful decorations for their gardens.
How do you implement recycling in a household?
In order to reduce the amount of waste produced, it is advisable to consider reducing the amount of items purchased, reusing items where possible, recycling items where appropriate, and purchasing items that are durable and long-lasting. Prior to recycling, it is advisable to flatten boxes, remove food and liquid from containers, and dispose of recycling materials in a loose manner, as opposed to placing them in plastic bags.
It is advisable to ascertain the ARL of the receptacle in question prior to its placement therein. The foundation of sustainable practices is the purchasing decisions we make. It is therefore prudent to consider the purchase of products that are designed to withstand the test of time.
What recycled materials are used in building?
Recycled building materials are products or materials that have been previously used in another construction, such as brick, steel, timber, and whole elements like windows and tiles. These materials can also be manufactured from waste, such as recycled plastic bricks or concrete made from waste steel dust. Recycled aggregates are made by reprocessing used materials through crushing, mixing, screening, and grading until they meet the required specifications.
Topsoil, excavated during the groundworks phase of a building project, can be processed to create nutrient-rich soil for landscaping. Material reclamation is changing the construction industry by providing a cost-effective, eco-friendly alternative to harvesting virgin resources and manufacturing new products. By utilizing by-products of construction, we can minimize environmental impact and nourish plants and wildlife.
How to make a house with recycling?
This instructable demonstrates how to create a house out of recycled plastic bottles. The process begins with gluing the bottles together using hot glue, starting with the big 7-liter round bottle in the middle. Then, the bottles are glued around it, alternating different shapes and sizes. The shape of the house can be decided by cutting the bottles where they join for a nicer look.
Next, wood glue and paper towels are applied to the entire surface of the house, except for the windows and the top of the house, where the roof will be. The wood glue that goes transparent when dry is used, but any wood glue can be used. The glue should be left to dry over night.
The roof tiles are then made by laying roof tiles on the bottles, using wood glue and sand to create a sturdy structure. The final step is to paint the house with acrylic paint. This project is perfect for children and adults to learn about recycling and the importance of recycling.
📹 10 WONDERFUL RECYCLE DIY CRAFTS THAT WILL BRIGHTEN YOUR ROOM
RECYCLING AND UPCYCLING CAN BE FUN AND EASY Recycling is a key to saving this world. By recycling the old things, we …
No this does not solve the entire waste plastic problem and no it does not really replace wood or steel beams in construction, as so many geniuses have pointed out in droves in these comments while missing the point entirely. But that is not the real point is it? The real point is that this is a creative and “outside the box” method for putting to use stuff we were going to just throw out entirely and let it sit unused in the landfills. Does it have to be used as a replacement or substitute beam for your deck or load bearing beam in your house? No, not at all and no one said that you must do that at all in the first place. But if you use your brain, anyone can see big potential for many other uses for this method if refined and improved. Could be useful for creating many other shapes for decorative coverings and finishes too, and not just limited to one use or application only. Wow there are so many – “I use a hammer for every problem I encounter” people out there. It is just a article showing creative humans using their brains and imaginations to try to make use of things that would be wasted and just tossed unused. However, now that throw away plastic will be put to use and less will go into the land fill. Why do most people state the obvious right off that bat? Of course not one simple idea will just solve a complex issue like our dependence on waste, but these folks never claimed that either. I say bravo and good thinking on trying something out in the first place. And by sharing their ideas it spurs others to think creatively (at least those of us who have the capacity to) to try to come up with alternatives as well.
I was a process tech making hdpe lumber for 8 years. Basically this exact thing except most standard lumber profiles in up to 8 foot lengths. All post consumer recycled. You did a decent job. I would recommend adding an exothermic blowing agent. These are available in hdpe pellets. A small amount produces a uniform foam pattern internally and causes the plastic to foam and fill the mold perfectly. It also adds very good structural properties. These beams are strong. Like stupid strong.
You need something like a crockpot to melt more and easier. Ideally, you are looking for something that can apply continuous, medium, and uniform heat over time. A pot solution would make it easier to add to the whole as the caps liquify. Also, the pot is ceramic which will hold the heat giving you more time to transfer the material to the mold.
Just a thought, maybe put a heating element under the aluminum with a manual nob or something to regulate the heat. That way you don’t have to melt it outside the mold. Turn it on put all the plastic in the mold from the start (maybe half if the volume is to high), apply some pressure with that fancy press 🙂 and just let it melt into form.
A couple of thoughts for you – a T beam mold might be worth a go as you’ll reduce the mass while retaining rigidity. It’s an easy enough shape to achieve using your aluminium angle and boards. Another thought was possibly trying a hotplate with a temp gauge. As long as the temperature stays below 300 C you shouldn’t have any decomposition. That might allow for easier processing of larger batches compared to the press method.
Using a heat gun to control the heat while adding the plastic to the mold will lengthen the time to work with it. I also think if you used an old meat grinder (the kind that clamp to your dining table) to crush/shred the caps before melting will reduce air pockets as well as increase the number of caps per melt in the panini press.
been following this website for a short while now, these article’s have really shown me the potential of working with HDPE and have experimenting with it for a few weeks now and have a few observations I’ve made about it so far I thought I’d share (and apology’s in advance for the large wall of text) hpde’s pliability allows it to be easily used for living hinges and or springs (meaning there’s no glue or rivets that can fail between a spring and a part) its strong enough that when cast as two hollow parts and welded together with heat it can still be a mechanically functional/stress bearing part it floats easily even when its a solid part when using white/translucent hdpe that turns transparent when heated its possible to color it by using both natural and artificial pigment powder, and this pigment powder douse not affect the thermal property’s of the plastic nor douse it cause any fumes, this works for all pigments which includes metallic and color shifting pigments (have only attempted this with white HDPE as I doubt it would work with colored hdpe but this is a test I’ll attempt in future, even if changing the color is not possible it should still be possible however to turn a unappealing slurry of color into black HDPE using dark pigment for example charcoal powder though I again have yet to test this but this is the next test I have lined up as I have a bunch of orange and dark green bottle caps, which is not the most appealing color combo) it seems when it comes out of the panini press to lose its heat fast enough that it gets below 200 celsius soon after, this means it should be possible to use HPDE in its clay like state in a resin two part mold, be this a conventional resin mold or even a 3d printed resin mold (most resins crack at 200 c) have only tested this so far using press fitting resin prints into it but that worked great high temperature hot glue seems to be able to bond pieces of HDPE together at least temporarily especially on a rough sanded surface, I am going to be trying a few type of two part epoxy’s to see if I can get any better result aswell it is very much possible to use both woodworking and blacksmithing/jewelry smithing methods on this material which opens up a whole new world of possibility, (one thing I’ve not tried is casting methods as I’m afraid the temperature at which HDPE becomes liquid enough to cast is also the point at which it starts burning/fuming) and lastly but not least back to the strengths of HDPE and where I’ll be focusing my efforts most in future after I complete all the testing, when molded in the same way as you would mold steel to increase its impact resistance (rounding and fluting primarily) HDPE seems to have about half the impact resistance as its equivalent in steel whist being far easier to repair.
If your mold is made entirely from heat conducting metal, perhaps the heating elements (whether from deconstructed appliances, or solar) could be added to the outside of the mold itself, to be used as a melting vessel as well as an end-mold. OR a long oven to contain the aluminum mold so that as one beam is cooling, another beam full of plastic can be put in to melt.
Having learnt from you guys, I’ve now made a mould using 18mm ply and 2 plates of 6mm steel. Whilst I melt the bottle caps in one panini press, I heat the 2 steel sheets in another. Just before adding the plastic to the mould I insert 1 hot steel plate in the bottom. The melted plastic goes straight on top. I did use silicon sheets but by going straight on the steel it stops the minute brick pattern on the sheets pressing I to the plastic. Then I add the 2nd heated steel plate and then the 18mm wood. I use loads of F clamps. The result is that whilst it takes a little longer to cool, the heated steel plates makes the surfaces of the setting plastic absolutely flat with no air bubbles or wrinkles. This eliminates the need for a planer or thicknesses. I can change the thickness of the plastic slab by changing the 6mm steel plates for 4mm. Using a combination of these I can make 2mm to 14mm plastic plates, depending on what I want to make from them. So chuffed ive found you guys. You are awesome
Great article guys. just a thought, I have some experience with casting metal but have never melted plastic, what is the maximum operating temperature of the plastic? You heated it up to a taffy consistency and as you saw it was a pain to work with and get in the mold, could you make it hotter and thus more liquid? It might be easier to work with at a higher temperature but higher temperature may increase the risk of off-gassing toxic fumes or it may alter the molecular structure and make the finished product weaker. Your use of the panini press is resourceful but if you want to melt plastic efficiently in large enough quantities to make boards you need something that takes way less touch labor, some kind of plastic forge that you just dump buckets of bottle caps into and it just melts them all automatically, again the operating temperature range would determine how you designed the system.
The marbled effect is beautiful. I can imagine construction being done with beams like that instead of wood, given whatever additions are necessary to make it UV-resistant and at least as strong as ordinary softwood — someone suggested using (recycled) fibreglass for extra strength. I can see a 21st-century construction style developing which uses only marbled plastic-wood, used to show off its beauty, and little or no drywall at all. This would actually, potentially, have three ecological benefits: 1) Recycling the plastic to keep it out of the oceans (and landfills). 2) Replacing wood in building, thus there can be less denuded forestland. 3) Leaving trees to grow and remain as carbon sinks. Admittedly 2) and 3) are closely connected — the connection is that trees that are not used in construction can continue to grow and sequester carbon. I can add a fourth potential ecological benefit if the construction style above takes off: 4) Less use of drywall with whatever ecological problems are (probably) associated with its manufacture. There is financial and ecological cost, such as energy use and off-gassing, associated with the manufacture of plastic-wood too; it would have to be studied to determine to what extent plastic-wood’s costs are offset by the removal of the costs of making plastic-wood instead.
That’s awesome! With a few recycled steel rods inserted in the middle, you’d definitely have a greater tensile strength piece to work with and test for how much compression it can take before it no longer can function at 100% capacity. I believe you fellas are on to incredible building alternatives and can definitely help with the over extended disposal of plastic refuse.
Have watched this before and re-watching it again. May I know: a. From 8 kilos of used/waste plastic, what was weight of the beam from the mold, and as polished? b. In terms of energy or electricity usage, how much total did you end up consuming (from heating them down to polishing, including working on the mold)? Much thanks for the inspiration.
I think the amount of steps is what is taking you so long. Grinding everything up will definitely help speed up the process, and I’d probably just focus on the toaster oven, as you’re adding time by transferring from one to another and mixing bits together. If you just grind everything up nice and small, you can throw it all in the oven together, melt it, then folding and stretching, then repeat until you have a smooth mix. Grinding can also be done ahead of time in bulk so you can just grab the required amount whenever you went to press another bar.
Shred plastic directly into a drying chamber using a screw to drag drying shredded plastic through the chamber to an extruder to injection mold the beams. Also cut a few slots in the molds bottom and flush fit pistons to ejecte the parts from the mold using either hydraulic or nuematics to stream line and partially automate the process
The real way to increase production is to use a big oven with several racks. The kind of heaters used in school cafeterias would work well for this. Pile the plastic shavings onto 10 sheet pans, and load them in. You could cook several kilos of plastic at once. You could even leave some in while you work with others.
Hi everyone. I’m from Iran where almost nobody cares about recycling. The amazing idea you guys put in here is actually very good and can practically clean the scene from our crim called “plastic polution”. But I feel like this idea costs a lot of time and power resorces. Also it needs at least 2 people to do that. Plus, I’m thinking about if there may be some invisible other polution when melting those plastics and producing some bad gas?! I honestly don’t know if what I said is scientifically true or not, so I thought my question might help you to do your amazing recycling method🙈😊💓. Thanks for sharing and for your time reading this☝️. Good luck🙏🏻💓👍😘
I would be curious to find out the difference between the wood and plastic beams. Like how much weight can they support both vertically and horizontally. Also as I am just discovering this website are there any other plastics that might be more abundant that these beams could be made out of that can still hold up to the wood standard?
“It would be great to hear if you have any ideas to make this more feasible.” Salvage the heating element and controls from a junk electric oven. Straighten out the heating element. Make a self heating mold. Bonus – you will have scrap sheet metal and insulation from the oven itself that you can work with. Then you can just add your plastic scraps, stir, turn off the heat, and press.
My recommendation to make larger beams like 8′ 10′ even 12′ in length is to use strip heaters in the mold and add the shredded plastic directly. Make the mold taller or melt it in layers. The tricky part and I’m not sure off the top of my head how you would do it is to load it all into a vacuum chamber. Because you can’t have air bubbles if there wasn’t any air (ie. vacuum) to begin with. Also with a vacuum you won’t need a press because gravity will pull everything down when the plastic becomes a liquid.
I was literally just thinking the other day that it would be amazing to figure out a way to upscale home plastic recycling to building material sizes, and now I’m eternally grateful for you guys doing most it for me lol. I know what I’m building next year’s garden beds out of. I’m gonna try a few experiments with HDPE grocery bags as well, since I already use those to spin “yarn” for knitting projects, but have tons of edge cuttings that aren’t the right shape for it and are just sitting in a bag.
Just a couple of things; first can you use the melted plastic in silicone molds? And, idk how feasible it would be but what about having several US electric skillet pans with 3″ sides going on low all at the same time, and would adding some resin epoxy to fill in areas but mold has to be leak proofed, could you then maybe carve into a block of that stuff to create…. Whatever you want at that point …You could make quarter inch flat molds 10 x 12 or something to make notebook dividers or cut & use sheets of plastic like wood & make a box or small shelves.
Most of the methods I’ve thought of so far involve basically reinventing injection mold casting, that or just cooking your plastic in a giant hot pot of some kind, though I assume one of the main concerns is having an even distribution of heat and maintaining a constant temperature, so possibly an electric slow cooker or a double boiler set up for doing large quantities of plastic all at once rather than the slow laborious task of melting small amounts in a panini press.
Completely new to the idea of DIY plastic recycling and I have a few questions 1. Are there any concerns with toxic vapors when heating the plastic? 2. What recycle grade number does this correspond to (I am assuming 1), and what other grades is this heating and kneading method feasible for? 3. Would it be possible to heat this plastic further to pour into a plaster, clay, or resin mold? 4. What kind of flash point should I watch out for to keep from combusting or otherwise ruining the plastic’s chemical structure?
I have wondered if anyone has thought of melting plastic waste and turning it into filament for 3D printers? It seems that would be a worthwhile goal. The idea was use waste plastic, turn it into filament, use filament to produce prosthetics for 3rd world countries where it would be available to the very poor, especially children. Edit: how often can the plastic be reheated before it starts losing it’s properties (strength, flexibility, etc.)?
@Brothers Make – Just finished your article. This seems very online with how: Skatelight & Gator Skins have Revolutionized the Top layers for Ramp Builds. If your process can do that for the rest of the Wood needed for builds…the Possabilites would be insane. Also try doing one but adding in Carbon Fibers into it for more Strength.
The end result looks great. I am concerned about the amount of electricity used to do this, but the ideas people have had for a solar heater either as an oven or for the base of the mould is a good way round that. I’m wondering how easy would it be to make a cylindrical form, either solid or tube? I think they would look great for garden structures, and maybe the 2 x 4 would be strong enough for a shed frame (sized up a bit)
You could combine the processes of melting and pressing into one step. Build a 2×4 shaped panini press with nichrome wire encased in ceramic, protected by steel, mounted to the bottom of the pressing instrument. Add bottle caps. Add blades to edges to automatically trim off excess. Press and heat. Done.
I love this so much. I did a project, inspired by you guys, where I created large letters of the alphabet. I made like giant cookie cutters out of aluminium offcuts that a local aluminium manufacturer donated to me. The results were amazing. I’m hoping to work with a localish school for additional needs to pass in the knowledge too. Its definitely time consuming. But it’s a start and in sure in time an answer to time saving and affordability will come.
Great article, very interesting! A good way to repurpose old equipment would be a discarded dryer. They have a ton of heat output and you can probably find one with a broken drum to save from becoming scrap. It would take a bit of DIY but you could make a huge convection oven that could be controlled on the timer. Set it and forget it melting a whole bin of caps (under supervision of course).
I’m trying to recycle 3d printing plastic waste and I had this thought: why not have a mold that you heat up from the bottom, and add plastic into it? Aluminum angles will transmit heat very well, so using only aluminum for the inside faces, and with some holes in the base and a heat gun, you could melt the plastic directly in the mold as you add it in. Then pressing down the counter mold from the top would push your bubbles out. At least that’s the connector in my mind. I’m just not sure if that uses more energy or less than your current method.
Hi! I’m from the Philippines. I’m currently doing some research and wondering if you can also create a recycled plastic beam out of shredded plastic straws and plastic sheet film, including the materials you used for this article. I’ve searched the material composition of each material you used in creating the recycled plastic beam and I’ve observed that Polypropylene and Polyethylene are the type of plastics that were considered. The bottle cap is made out of polypropylene and the plastic welded box is made out of polyethylene. Since plastic straw is made of polypropylene and plastic covered with polyethylene, I was wondering if they can be recycled too. I’m performing some research and searching for an easy way to properly dispose of shredded plastic straws and plastic covers and avoid them ending up in landfills. Hope I could get your attention and you can answer my questions. Thank you.
Since you’re primarily using bottle tops, I think there’s a faster way of melting them down potentially. It involves a steel tube with a large enough inner diameter to feed the caps through, and an induction heater coil (or a few along the pipe). Might have to add a rheostat to control temperature, but once dialled in I’m sure it would work like a plastic melting conveyor.
What are the energy costs of melting all the plastic? I find it interesting that it can be done, but anything that is so highly energy dependant, make a useful product from one problematic waste product, but causing a different kind of pollution through energy cost is questionable. There was an aluminum production plant near my former home that shut down due to the high costs of energy in the UK. It’s like suggesting eVs are the solution to air pollution in cities, and whilst it might well allow cities to meet their target levels of air pollution, the mining, transportation for every stage of the component to product process, energy requirements for manufacturing, charge energy, relatively short battery lifespan, disposal costs, invariably invalidates a city pollution reduction.
You’d have to heat the entirety of the volume equally, after abrasion or reduction (chipping) so the medium is first all a uniform size so the recrystallization of the heated chemical doesnt become uneven while folding it puts air into the mixture, creating microfractures, so it should be done in a vacuum to pull the air out of the combustion process for strength, and vulcanizing it should be done with consistent pressure distributed evenly across the surface using triangle blocks placed and lobbed between the surface and the clamp arm evenly divied across the length of the surface area.
Here’s a thought for you guys. Being that the frame is metal, you could place a silicon heating pad (with built in thermostat) on the metal frame itself, preferably the underside length as that would make the most sense. They use these silicon pads in some 3d printers to heat up the beds for plastic adhesion. You’d be basically creating a direct heat box instead of melting the plastic in your ovens. At that point its arrange your plastic in the frame, plug it in, wait for it to melt and press/form it. Then unplug and wait for it to cool.
As already stated, use electrical heating. For an easy build at home option, making the internal of the set mould out of a thermally conductive metal like aluminum or stainless but the external out of a thermally insulative material, like a good quality hardwood lined with a fire blanket. Commercial Refrigeration defrosting cable (a flat resistive ribbon cable used ) layed between the fire blanket and aluminum. This can be then allow for a controlled controlled temperature enviroment and extended pliability in the plastic, and an even all round heat / cool cycle. Going all the way, a heated concrete mould block, with with a removable folded stainless steel internal liner and checking holes through the side to release excess pressurised product and air bubbles when compressed is applied…. The concrete can be heated to maintenance temperature, and several stainless moulds rotated through it. one step farther is to use a combo of solar heated water or gas heating in embedded tubes supplemented by electrical heating …. All that time i spent designing and making heated rocks and enclosures for snakes and lizards may not have entirely been in vainn
Awesome project! For the time element, maybe a future project could be a miniaturized hydraulic auger; in injection molding, the main screw turning provides about 80% of the heat to melt the plastic from the mechanical friction of twisting and stretching the plastic. They’re normally huge setups to provide crazy high tonnage of pressure, but something small could probably greatly help with handling
Where i live they used to make these bus stop benches and picnic tables with square stock made like this, maybe 3×3. But they are just gray or reddish plastic. The benches are like old ones with the two metal legs parts and then share Slats down he length back and seat. The tables are built on a concrete slab so there’s a metal post for the table and four short posts for the seats, all mounted in the concrete and then with flat plate welded to the top of each post. Then table is like 4×4 slats… Bolted to the flat plate on each post Benches also.
It’s awesome to see the thought and ingenuity that went into this. Very complex and time consuming but that can be reduced. It’s also awesome to see the little ones getting involved. In 20 years they’ll be WAY ahead of other folks in their knowledge and skills. Keep up the great work. Recycling (and less use of recyclables) is always where we need to go.
Would love to know the environmental and health impact of melting the plastic, maybe you mentioned it in article and I missed it but I always thought that melting plastic released dangerous fumes. I’m assuming that you know the plastic type (hdp?) if so how do you identify it in your recycling? update for anyone else wondering, they cover these questions in youtu.be/-igxhoGEQFU
Be very cautious about breathing the fumes of melting plastics, especially PVC and I think probably others. PVC fumes were proven by the chemical companies to cause tumors. The companies then hid that information from the public and especially their own workers. I think it would be very important to keep young children from exposure to it.
I absolutely love the thought and creativity that has been put into these articles. This kind of out of the box, every small act matters, if we all do our part thinking is what we need more of in this world. ❤️ I truly hope you guy’s continue to produce articles to show more ways each of us individually could do our part to save the very thing that provides us with everything to survive.
As a concept I find this really neat, give it the right materials to actually do the molding process and I can see this being an alternate option for potential projects. There’s just a few questions I have in regards to these beams: how sturdy is it compared to wood? How long do these last in contrast to other erosive tools like wood or metal? What does the wear and tear look like; warping, splittering, some odd rusting? How would a test room made of these beams handle things like temperature or sound? If anyone has any answers or other questions feel free to add them!
I wonder if using something like a foundry would make the process faster. Also since the idea here is to pour molten plastic I believe you could do away with the press and clamp idea. To recreate your marbling technic you could pour several colors in at different points as things are firming up. Something like a liquid resin pour.
So happy I just found this website. I am quite interested in the idea of recycling these bottles at home. I go through a lot of bottles, and have always wanted to reuse them for something. I know you are using the bottle tops, but is there a way to recycle the bottles as well? I am going to look through the rest of your articles and see if there are other projects I might be able to do. Thanks you for this info!
I just discovered your website, so I hope you will forgive me if someone has already said this. Have you guys tried using a garbage disposal to grind the lids? It might speed up your process. I used to be a glass artist and rigged up an old garbage disposal in a wooden frame to process scrap glass into frit for use in my art.
A nice sized solar oven would produce a literal trough of melted plastic in decent time and if the entire mould is made of metal you could grace it better to prevent distortion and heat the entire piece and it’ll gradually cool over time like a kiln. If the top piece had a chunk of metal on top like a scrap piece of train rail it would put even pressure the whole way across and you probably wouldn’t need clamps
I wonder how well wood screws and lag bolts would grip into a beam like that. I love the idea and the ingenuity. This has the potential not only to put plastic waste to good use but also reduce the amount of trees cut down for building material. That being said tho i dont want to put loggers out of work. A bit of a double edge sword like a lot of things in life
@Brothersmake Greatings from North Carolina, USA! QUESTION: Sorry if I missed it, but how much total raw plastic did you start off with to make this beam? I’ve been dabbling with this a bit myself and it’s amazing the amount of raw material it takes to make something that large and solid. Q: Have you considered adding fillers or designing something that will allow you to use less plastic, by making intentional cavities to create structures metrics in the material? Together or separately you could increase your overall yield in productivity, while also reducing the amount of plastic used and all the while make it a stronger and more heat resistant and structurally sound material. Kudos on the good work mates and I hope to hear back from you.
I’m wondering if a small propane powered blast furnace would work for this with a graphite smelting pot. I mean if home blacksmiths can make knives out of scrap metal wouldn’t it work with plastic? It would allow you to melt a larger volume of plastic much faster. The only question is does the molten plastic stick to graphite? Molten metal doesn’t but I guess you wont know unless you try.
I love this idea. I would use the bean for garden project. Use it for papers gor patio or driveway. Make a retaining wall for plant bed…oh the things you can do with this project idea. Yay!!! Thank you. I wonder if you could melt the plastic in a big pot/pan on a fire outside. I mat try that to see if it melts faster. I have a big “water bath canning” pot that might be ideal…I have to start saving my plastic. Thank you for the article. My mind is exploding with ideas…😁
I just thought that this would be a good way to store your stock of plastic. Like make this as one big batch then cut the pieces you need for your pens. Then as time goes on, you can always make another beam once you have enough to make another, or if you have a ton of material, make a few and you have predetermined colors all ready to go.
I was thinking that plastic could be used as a filler with none construction grade concrete pads that way less concrete is needed for slabs. Could be used for concrete pour mold building. Plastics can be used and recycled in so many ways. I think you should formulate a solar melting process by focusing mirrors or some how using glass. Damn it now I going to check the melting point of plastic. Also heard acetone melts a good deal of things. However might not want to use chemicals. RESEARCH time. Edit: Apparently boiling water is 212°f which some plastics will melt at as well. Also boiling water can reach higher temperatures than that. So I’m thinking you can use a two metal pot system to melt plastic more efficiently. Got so many ideas now.
what about making a full metal mold and using a torch to heat the mold with the plastic in it less handling and could get it hotter to not get all the bubbles in it. It might help you cook faster and let you get a bigger piece done. you could use a fire then to heat for a more even heating and just put long i rebar for handles to move and work with the molds
A handful of comments/ideas/suggestions: 1. Since you are working with plastics that have many toxic chemicals in them, be sure to do this in a well-ventilated area. Those kiddos don’t need to be burying dad at their age. 2. Faster heating could be accomplished with an old pot or baking dish and some kind of rocket stove. If you can melt enough at one time, you can simply pour it into the mould. If using a source of “high heat”, try the double boiler method (like you’d do for chocolate) to prevent burning. 3. Use a set of these jumbo Lego block moulds (kfmoulding.com/lego-block-moulds/) and give the kids something lifesize to play with. 4. Concrete moulds would also work, and are readily available in a multitude of sizes and shapes. 5. I really like the color variations. You should use a lot more colors and call it “Tie dyed lumber” Keep up the great work and keep those kids involved.
This awesome article was put up a year ago and I just saw it. This is great. Some of the commentors have talked about adding other material to add strength, longevity, etc. I have some 2 x 6’s used for raised gardens made from recycled plastic and wood shavings. Over 20 years there’s no rot or other deterioration. I think the potential applications for this are manifold. Well done. Cheers
In doing research and development for the greater part of my adult life. I’ve come upon many things. I believe you should consider using a wood splitter as you can use the hydraulics to extrude and apply pressure to remove bubbles and Imperfections. If you hook up a heating element on the end you can force the plastic through a heated head and extruded out one end into a mold of your liking. Look up injection molding. You can also do some chemistry and turn it into gasoline and still have a gooey mess you can inject or mix with sawdust and make boards. Not hard just heat and collect and cool the gas as in a still and with the way the world is going it mite be necessary. Good luck and keep up the good work.
I’m just amazing the amount of time, wood, electricity, aluminum etc. you used to make a block of plastic. A cool looking block of plastic, but if it were to be done commercially, what would it cost? It might be an interesting “maths” problem for your students to tackle, aka engineering economics. At this point you see one of the problems with recycling – it is difficult for recycling to be done efficiently enough to compete with simply using new material. That’s where industry has been focusing for years and is slowly getting a grip on the problem. BTW, if the average time that you blob was melted was over an hour, most of the antioxidants probably are burnt out of the HDPE you used. I wouldn’t count on physical strength and UV resistance. There is also no guarantee that all the PE used had a 0.97 g/cc density, since some HDPE grades used in bottle caps are copolymer grades with density down to 0.955 g/cc or lower.
Why not make the mold all out of aluminum since you already have done it to the sides and add some kind of heating element from recycling old toasters, ovens, etc. to keep it warm. Then make a hopper to put a bulk amount of plastic and have that get melted then go down to an extruder to melt down the part and extrude to the preheated mold and then clamp and press when it’s full? That would be fun project and speed up the process
This is a pretty cool project, though I think something less conductive might work better for the inner part of the mold. You could make a concrete mold with just 4 sides, bottom, left, right and across but not adjacent. Then pour a flat sheet of concrete to be the fifth (adjacent) side for ease of disassembly. It could stay warm for longer than the aluminum. I also wonder if this could be used to build an airplane. Plastic is fairly light and perhaps strong enough that it could be used for the skeletal structure. If not, the coloring is good enough it could be used for art projects. Maybe if you plotted it out the way a blacksmith would make Damascus steel.
I have a question. This seems to be like something that is quite time consuming… To save on time, do you think it would be better to use something like a crucible to melt the plastic? I understand that the traditional crucible has way more heat than necessary to melt this plastic, but maybe something similar could get the job done in a more time efficient manner? The biggest problem with recycling anything is the time. It’s so much easier to just go and buy a new piece of wood then it is to prepare plastic bottle caps as a replacement… And I think that’s really the root of most of the problems. If we could find a way to lessen the amount of time required to do this, I think that people would be more willing to try to do it themselves.
Very cool. I’m replacing decks around my house as they are now 30 years old and I live in NW Washington State. Need I say more. Having a rot proof plastic support structure that would last a lifetime would save a lot of repetitive work. The real way to save the planet is to not add more people to it. In other words, don’t have more than two children. 100 million couples with a 3rd child add 100 million additional people to the planet even after they pass. It’s simple math.
Very cool on the beam for it’s intended us. I’m still thinking smaller crafty scale. Slice them up for coasters. Slice and reheat enough to bend and make a curved soap dish. Slice along the length thinner to make a tumbler, or 1000 napkin rings. Basically, if you make a solid beam, then couldn’t you cut it and reheat to bend to make all sorts of things??? IDK? You’ve made my brain happy though❤😊❤. Could you use it as tiles? For bathroom walls or backsplashes??? Ok, I just saw you have a article on making tiles, lol. Going to watch that now. PS – ive got a panini press that was a wedding gift, I’ve used it twice in sooo many years. I feel like melting some plastic now.
All that energy, resources and materials to make a plastic beam with indeterminate loadbearing properties! No-one in their right mind should be using home-made plastic beams for anything structural. Honestly – what is the point? It’s not in the slightest bit sustainable or practical and arguably it’s downright irresponsible. If you want to recycle plastic, why not experiment with moulds for things like flower pots or building bricks or garden edging or anything non-structural. No wonder they say education standards have slipped…
You could lose some hardware and tools by casting it in sand (the ground), and shaving it to to size. You would lose the costs of all the hardware, wood aluminium etc… Brute casting and squaring it of with 1 tool seems less of a hassle. Maybe build a simple plainer so you get some sort of production line. Have fun!
I just discovered your website and absolutely LOVE what you do! I am not a super DIYer, but I enjoy seeing this type of articles and getting inspired. I too feel……well, know, there is a LOT of plastic waste so anything that helps is worth looking into. Perorally, I will start looking at what can be done with this and action figures! 🙂 Keep up the good work!
I wonder if the folding and twisting process is more of a hindrance. When making taffy, candy makers twist and turn the hot sugar in order to ADD air bubbles. I would imagine less folding would be more helpful. A heat gun, might be better for removing air bubbles. Shredding the plastic prior to plastic may also help.
Detractors are missing the point. One of these guys is an educator. Some teachers only take someone else’s curriculum and teach. This dude at least shows an ability to think outside the box and try things. If he is passing this on to students, they are no doubt learning something young people are in short supply of these days, the ability to think critically.
Bravo! You can see the swirls which could become a type of internal weakness known as cold welds. To take this closer towards a structurally uniform and useful beam, it would be great to make an low temp heating oven and to align the melting components lengthwise. You could also incorporate laminates.
Dissassembly a fee panini presses and attach them to the mold. Place bottle caps in mold, melt in place. Make the void taller than before to allow the appropriate volume of unmelted caps to be place in. Then make the top press piece deep enough to squish it alp the way down, adding weight to that piece so it does it with the assistance of gravity. Good luck getting the bubbles out.
Might be keeping plastic out of landfills but the flipside is unless your completely off grid the electrical use would essentially be using grid power which is in turn likely from coal and coal power plants produce a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions which is more than any other single source. So yeah I guess crank those emissions up to make some plastic recycled products. PLUS the bottle cap by itself would decompose sooner than when you melt and press a bunch of them together. Face it, either way they would both end up in a decompositional process eventually wether it be a bottle cap or your plastic plank or crafts, no need to also crank up emissions just to extend the life of some plastic to keep it out of a purposefully built landfill. Plastics are one of the single worst inventions of mankind yet they are useful and fail to be disposed of properly. For this to go anywhere plastics would need to be recycled on a massive scale and reused in the production plants that created them. Those plants should be held liable for the proper disposal and recycling of their creations using renewable energy. Then I’d bet they wouldn’t be pumping out plastics as much and so carelessly. Just saying…
The only suggestion I have is maybe going bigger… as in, the entire process of melting plastic and molding. For instance, I’d love to pick up all the trash in Egypt (free) and recycle it for practical uses. If I had a warehouse, I’d probably have to use vats for large quantities for melting, right? That would reduce your costs/time in the long run is doing more all at once… from the melting, to mixing, to pouring into molds etc… probably could go hotter to have it more liquid, and easier for pouring into molds. Anyway, thats my 3rd world humanitarian assistance dream…. but it gets hot in egypt too… so I wonder, how well some of these things will hold up in heat. Maybe not good for structures to live in, but certainly there are chemical additives that serve to harden too? Just ideas! Great article, thank you!
Understanding HOW to use materials in a construction project is critical. To use these plastic beams, you need to alter your thinking pattern a little bit. The way to use them is one common to log home construction. In log home construction, the logs all lay in a horizontal or flat position and are not stood upright. The plastic beams don’t have the characteristics to be strong enough to use as upright or vertical “studs” but certainly do have enough strength to lay flat, one stacked on top of the other like logs in a log home. The building process is made stronger by drilling a hole in each plastic beam at intervals of perhaps 12 inches to maybe even 18 inches. Long rods such as rebar could be laid into the foundation concrete when it is poured. The beams are placed over the rods, with the rods protruding upwards through the holes in the beams. Holes would be drilled to match the rebar size. Once the top of the wall is reached, the rebar can be capped off or just bent over in a “L” shape to lock the bars in place. Used this way, the beams should work just fine for many types of applications. A thin layer of glue or sealant can even be applied between each plastic beam as it is laid in place to help provide more structural integrity. I can see using it for a lot of non-critical applications here on my homestead, like for building dog houses, chicken coops, pump houses, smokehouses, and even maybe small storage sheds. Some have mentioned the UV issue, which can be mitigated a lot by simply painting the plastic beams on the exterior just as any other building material might be painted.
:cat-orange-whistling:Mrs Richards: “I paid for a room with a view !” Basil: (pointing to the lovely view) “That is Torquay, Madam .” Mrs Richards: “It’s not good enough!” Basil: “May I ask what you were expecting to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window ? Sydney Opera House, perhaps? the Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically past?…” Mrs Richards: “Don’t be silly! I expect to be able to see the sea!” Basil: “You can see the sea, it’s over there between the land and the sky.” Mrs Richards: “I’m not satisfied. But I shall stay. But I expect a reduction.” Basil: “Why?! Because Krakatoa’s not erupting at the moment ?”
I like the concept of making plastic beams from recycled clean plastics. The process seems tedious and takes a long time. My suggestion wou be to make a heated mold or a crucible to melt large volumes of shaved plastics. Let it cool in the mold and clean it up. One and done. That’s just my opinion on it. Still a nice article 😁👍
Douglas fir wood, the common wood used in 2×4″ has a modulus of elasticity (or resistance to non permanent deformation) of 11200-13500MPa (1.6-1.95 Million PSI). While HDPE, (600-1500MPa) is more susceptible to of course deformation, especially if heated. In terms of actual application, HDPE probably shouldn’t be used to frame a house, but I could see it being used for decoration, flooring, or even furniture.
Just stumbled onto Y’alls website and I think what Ur doing is phenomenally wonderful and I’d like to do something like this as well, but I have a few questions: 1- The 2 things used to ‘melt’ were a panini press and a small oven? 2- What were the nonstick sheets U used in the press? That’s all for now, but once I get to where I’m ready to start a project, ill reach out again. THANX for all Ur doing and keep up the good work!!!
There’s a company in Australia called ekodeck(?) that’s almost 50/50 bamboo and recycled plastic. The other tiny percentage is colourants and stabilisers I think. I’ve only seen decking and screening by them, but I like the concept, and you cut/glue/screw like timber, but no painting required and (not sure if this is tested and proven in real life conditions) should last 50+ years
I wonder if there is a high heat gun that could expedite the process rather than the panini press? Create a few websites in the mold and run the heat gun in to melt in the actual mold then add pressure. (Try it I guess?) Also if it needs more strength perhaps embed some kind of internal aluminum or steel by mounting it in the mold prior to melting…
I’m not sure if this would be a good way, but I’m thinking of a mixer coated with a PG or any kind of odorless and colorless oil that would leave no residue and allow to melt the plastic shavings all in one go. A 6-8 liter mixer with a torch on its side, spinning at its lowest speed. The mixing arm should also get rid of air bubbles as well. Buying some cheap, used one should set your pocket down too much. Also it would be better to melt the plastic until its almost a liquid, so that it takes the shape of a mold better. HDPE, PET and PETG are good for making all kinds of diy projects. I may experiment with melting technique mentioned above once I fix my 3D printer.
have you looked at making L, C or H shaped bars.? These sections are everywhere in steel construction as they are much more economical / lighter and as strong as solids bars while using less raw material. They also connect (bolt) more easily throgh their flanges (plastic welding ?). I had plastic meccano as a kid inc the bolts. Your bottle caps look very new, clean and unscuffed.? Collecting enough raw material is difficult domestically, ironically.
One might be able to increase the shear & bending strength if some metal reinforcement ( or even other materials, as well just to experiment). The reinforcement could be clothes hanger metal, od metal tubes (like curtain-rods), re-bar or any other material you want, though metal is likely the best for this. Heck, you might experiment with pre-tensioning & post-tensioning, just like concrete. However, that would possibly behave differently than concrete, so a modified process would likely be needed.
In terms of quicker, you could possibly look into turning this into spooling to go into some type of 3d printer and then print the projects instead. I dont know a ton abkut 3d printers and if that could work out of the box, but there has to b a way, if theres a will. Also, I’d love to see a superduper durable and insulated cooler project out of this. That would be insane. Especially with the outside built from these, high density r-value board in between (not spray foam as it retains heat and defeats the purpose of using insulation) and then the interior again. Bulletproof….or at least bear…. 🐻
Not to negate your hard work, but… Did anyone calculate how much energy is needed for that bar of plastic, electricity alone? With the time used to do all the melting, twisting and wood cutting, screwing how many red brick could one make? They do not degrade and last for hundreds of years, including ultaviolet. Industrial grade fiber made fom plastic could be used for clothing and many mor applicațions. Yes, thank you for the presentation. Well done!
Would it be possible to build a mold that creates a shell around a core of, say, polystyrene? Polystyrene has a higher melting point than HDPE, so in theory it could work. I’m thinking something for the extruder would work better than manual. The general idea here is to recycle the plastic while sequestering the polystyrene, meanwhile reducing the weight and density of the resulting beam.
Years of collecting the plastic you need X’s cost of electricity X’s man hours gathering saving and making, X’s health issues of smelling fumes of said plastics, X’s clean up expenses and costs of lumber, screws, etc.. to make the mould, and here is your $300 pound piece of plastic. Plastics also start to weaken and break down after about 10 years getting brittle. So don’t go building a home from it. I commend they’re trying new things, but I doubt this is the best way.
You have left a number of questions unanswered. 1. What is the weight of your beam? I am trying to build a loft in my NYC apartment and I want material that is lightweight so it will be easy to move the loft when I leave the apartment. 2. Can you drill into the plastic like you would with a wooden beam? The answer to this seems obvious – why would you make a beam that you can’t drill into? Got that, but just to verify a definitive answer would give confidence to one who has limited fabrication experience. answer. And finally, while you claim we can do this at home, I note there is one heck of a lot of tools needed and then a place to store them. NYC apartment 10′ x 12′ room and 3 roommates in the remainder of the apartment. I have sawhorses, a drill, and a circular saw in the bottom of my closet, a few more things but you get the idea. Where can I go to build this piece of fabulousness?
That makes me curious to try. The place I work uses plastic storage totes that get damaged, and tossed. If you look at my website, you can see I have been reusing some for gardening, but now you have given me more ideas for reusing them! What about different types of plastic? You know, the different recycle codes???