With the aim of reducing plastic waste, sisters Kedibone and Kekeletso Tsiloane successfully prototyped the PlastiBrick; an innovation that uses recycled plastic to manufacture stock and maxi bricks, which are strong, durable, fire retardant and environmentally friendly.
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“The idea for PlasticBrick came about after we started a construction business in 2013, and realised that one of our biggest expenses in our income statements was for bricks,” begins Kedibone Tsiloane.
“In an attempt to significantly reduce those costs, we went on to look for a formal black female-owned brick manufacturer in the Free State to purchase the bricks from, but we were unsuccessful. This fuelled our interest in starting our own brick manufacturing business where we could collect, crush and melt the raw materials to produce the bricks we required,” she says.
Kedibone explains that the company started by manually manufacturing cement bricks at home. They sold their product mainly to households and local hardware stores in limited quantities. “Our capacity was between 300 and 500 bricks a day,” she explains.
But the duo had bigger plans. Their ultimate goal was to manufacture a brick that was different, innovative and environmentally friendly.
“We did a lot of research and found that most of the bricks in South Africa are from a few suppliers who dominate the market. We identified an opportunity to enter this market by creating a niche for ourselves to differentiate us from the competition,” says Kekeletso.
“We looked for problems we could solve in the sector and identified two: plastic pollution and water scarcity. It takes many years for plastic to break down, so the accumulation of plastic over time and the damage caused by the toxic pollutants when plastic is burned, for example, are long lasting and therefore harm not only humans, animals, flora and fauna, but deteriorate the quality of water and, consequently, its availability.
“We wanted a product that could alleviate the two problems, and provide an eco-friendly alternative to cement bricks; a commonly used material, and something we were already passionate about,” says Kekeletso, adding that every effort towards a greener environment, no matter how small, is progress in the right direction. “Even the small steps we take towards reducing plastic pollution will have a significant impact if enough people embrace them,” she says.
A solution to SA’s plastic problem
Kedibone explains that the pair only started the PlastiBrick company with about R5 000, which was used for the prototype for PlastiBrick. The rest of the funding came from her own pocket, while her sister studies towards a degree in Civil Engineering.
The prototype, which has been tested by a SANS accredited independent laboratory found PlastiBrick to be stronger and less absorbent than cement bricks. The plastic bricks are also particularly good at insulating noise and are thinner and lighter than traditional bricks.
PlastiBrick is made up of various plastics collected from landfills, households and waste pickers or reclaimers. This forms the basis of the material and the primary raw material, Kedibone tells MechChem Africa.
“We purchase plastic from waste pickers and buy back centres who do the sorting,” she says. “We recycle all types of plastic, including the ‘unrecyclable’ plastic, which usually ends up in the rivers and landfills as no one sees value in collecting these types of plastic.”
The PlastiBrick production process consists of collecting and sorting the plastics depending on the desired compressive strength. It is then crushed and melted, where the melted plastic is mixed with sand and moulded using proprietary additives and left to cure for 45 minutes as opposed to the seven days for conventional bricks.
The bricks come in three shades of grey and in brown. The colours come from an additive and a manipulation of the manufacturing process.
“Interestingly, no water or cement is used in the production of the bricks, which answered our first problem of using a material that consumed less water. The plastic, together with the sand and additives, ensures that the bricks bond together,” adds Kedibone.
PlastiBrick has recently been recognised by the Department of Human Settlements in the Free state as an alternative building technology that aides in building proper houses that are durable and cost effective.
“Due to the economies of scale for bigger companies, they are able to price their bricks significantly lower; so, we price our bricks relative to the market for conventional cement bricks. However, our input costs are drastically lower and we use far less energy to manufacture,” she says.
The PlastiBrick weighs close to 3.0 kg and has a higher compressive strength of 10 MPa. This means it can be used to build from foundation upwards for single or double storey units. Competitively, the bricks are not only environmentally friendly, but due to the plastic elements, they have a high density and an industry-low water absorption rate of 1.1%, enabling a building to have a longer lifespan.
“Our bricks have also been purchased by local contractors. One success story that stands out is a project for renovating a monument in a rain prone area using the PlastiBricks. We have also donated the bricks to a small-scale farmer who has issues with flooding when it rains. The farmer said since using our environmentally friendly bricks, there have been no issues with flooding,” explains Kedibone.
The Tsiloane sisters say the response to the bricks has been unexpectedly amazing although one of the challenges they face is people not taking them seriously and questioning whether they will be able to deliver.
However, Kedibone believes that with the growth of plastic use and an emphasis on eco-friendly and alternative building solutions, now and in the future, there is going to be a drastic shift in trust between consumers and product manufactures like them, and a growth in demand for the PlastiBricks.
