Post by account_disabled on Feb 18, 2024 22:32:51 GMT -5
Construction material is one of the essential aspects to satisfy the supply and demand of low-cost housing. Recently, several researchers have dedicated a lot of time and effort to the development of waste recycling to obtain construction materials, since it is more ecologically favorable, especially in the case of non-degradable waste.
Researchers at Kitakyushu University, Japan, have suggested that disposable diaper waste could be used as construction material for low-cost housing in low-income countries . They created a composite building material by replacing sand in concrete and mortar with crushed used diapers.
Diapers in the trash. Image: I_love_life Shutterstock
Diapers are mainly composed of wood pulp, cotton, viscose rayon, and plastics such as polyester, polyethylene, and polypropylene. Most of these are disposed of in landfills or incinerated.
The researchers prepared concrete Phone Number List and mortar samples by combining washed, dried and crushed disposable diaper waste with cement, sand, gravel and water. These samples were then cured for days.
In the lab, the team tested six samples containing different proportions of diaper waste to measure the amount of pressure they could withstand without breaking. They then calculated the maximum proportion of sand that could be replaced with disposable diapers in a variety of building materials needed to build a house with an area of square meters that meets Indonesian building standards.
Researchers showed that disposable diaper waste could replace up to % of the sand needed for concrete used in the construction of columns and beams in a three-story house. This proportion increased to % of the sand needed for concrete columns and beams in a single-story house. Furthermore, disposable diapers can potentially replace up to % of the sand used in the manufacture of mortar in partition walls, while only % of the construction material could be used in the creation of floors and garden pavements.
In total, up to % of sand in all concrete and mortar building materials required to build a single-story house with an area of m can be replaced with disposable diaper waste, which is equivalent to m of waste.
This study was carried out in order to obtain a new perspective on the use of waste for construction components considered as elements of low-cost housing and recycling disposable diaper waste.