KOCHI: An innovative technology developed by a group of young engineers, who quit lucrative jobs to become entrepreneurs, may end the plastic waste menace in the state. The team has manufactured the first set of prototype bricks using plastic waste and some local ingredients which passed the recommended tests of quality and strength at the civil engineering department of Cochin University of Science and Technology. The team, most of whom are alumni of Model Engineering College, Thrikkakara, has already applied for patenting the methods and ingredients used in the brick.
Bricks are made from plastic waste using a technology which is a combination of pyrolysis and dry mixing. “The bricks can be used for making footpaths, paving roads, and maybe in the future, with some improvement, even for building houses. But it has to get the support of government institutions and business entities,” said Kevin Jacob, a team member. “Since a blanket ban on plastic is not practical, a proper and feasible management practice is needed to address the menace. Replacing carry-bags and other products with paper is damaging as more paper means more cutting of trees. While one kilogram of plastic can wrap 1,000 kilograms of groceries, 50 kilograms of paper would be needed to do the same,” added Kevin.
The paving brick has been certified double-strong and more lasting than the current interlock bricks used for paving roads, he said. From five tonnes of plastic waste 2,500 bricks can be manufactured. Currently, the team is working on building a fully automated zero-pollution electric plant where plastic waste can be converted into paving bricks and produce oil as a byproduct. The research and development works of the brick project began in December last and the team consisted of Kevin Jacob, Manyu J. Varma, Saffin Nazeer, D. Abhijth, Edwin Basil James, T. Geethanjali, Menon, Bhagyalakshmi, Arjun Sasikumar, Julian Sara Joseph, P.V. Sreelakshmi, Mevin Jacob and Fevin Basil James.
