2023-05-19 20:59:47
Los already used disposable nappies They can have a second life, with a use far removed from the original. A group of scientists has shown that they could substitute part of the sand for the concrete and mortar needed to build a low-cost house.
The proof is a house of 36 square meters and a built height, according to the investigations of a team led by Siswanti Zuraida, from the University of Kitakyushu, in Japan, indicates a study published by Scientific Reports.
Research shows that up to 8% of the sand for the concrete and mortar could be replaced by shredded used disposable diapers without significantly decreasing its resistance. An alternative to low-cost housing construction materials in low- and middle-income countries.
Disposable diapers are typically made from wood pulp, cotton, viscose rayon, and plastics such as polyester, polyethylene, and polypropylene, and most are disposed of in landfills or by incineration.
A new building material
The researchers prepared concrete and mortar samples by combining washed, dried, and crushed disposable diaper waste with cement, sand, gravel, and water, which were allowed to cure for 28 days.
They then tested six samples containing different proportions of diaper waste to measure how much pressure they could take without tearing.
The next step was to calculate the maximum proportion of sand that could be substituted for disposable nappies in a range of materials that would be required for a 36 square meter house that met Indonesian building standards.
The result was that diaper waste could replace up to 10% of the sand needed for the concrete used to form columns and beams in a three-story house. That ratio increased to 27% of the sand needed for concrete columns and beams in a single-story home, the publication notes.
Up to 40 percent of the sand needed for mortar in partition walls can be replaced with disposable diapers, compared to 9% of the sand in mortar for floors and landscape pavers.
Taken together, up to 8% of the sand in all concrete and mortar building materials for a 36-square-meter house can be replaced with disposable diaper waste, which is equivalent to 1.7 cubic meters of waste.
The authors note that broader application of their findings would require the involvement of stakeholders in governments and waste treatment to develop processes for large-scale collection, sanitation, and shredding of diaper waste.
In addition, building regulations would have to be modified to allow the use of diaper waste as a building material.
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