This is part of the WasteAid Toolkit: Making Waste Work. www.wasteaid.org.uk/toolkit
We are grateful to Pierre Kamsouloum (Cameroon) for the demonstration and The Arkleton Trust and Women’s Initiative the Gambia for their support in the workshop. Thanks also to Dave Leeke for filming the process and Lilly Lamia for video editing.
* Each paving tile contains 200 plastic bags.
* Sort your plastic very carefully. Different plastics melt and burn at different temperatures, so it is important to be certain you only have one kind of plastic. This process uses LDPE (Low Density Polyethylene). It is sometimes marked with a number 4 inside a triangle. LDPE is commonly used for low-cost plastic bags, water pouches and wrapping film. It is stretchy and you can scratch it with your fingernail. If in doubt, leave it out!
* Experiment with different amounts of sand and LDPE – the different amounts can be used for different purposes – slabs, tiles or bricks. In this example we used 25kg of plastic bags and 25kg of sand and we made paving tiles suitable for car parks and roads.
* If the plastic has dust or dirt in it you will see small flames. Keep the temperature below 85 degrees C so the plastic does not burn. If you are using an oil drum the ideal size is 80cm wide and 50cm deep.
* Oil the mould and table so the tiles do not stick.
* These tiles are as strong as concrete paving tiles – you can drive a 5 tonne truck over them.
* If you can have your product tested and certified as an approved construction product, you can market it to local building companies as well as directly to customers.
At 200 bags in each tile, if just 20 people get inspired to make 250 tiles each, that would mean a million plastic bags put to good use!
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