People build walls out of stone, wood, brick, metal, and everything in between. Could plastic join that list?
Todd Wynward, co-founder of the Repurposing Plastic Project, certainly thinks so. With the help of architect Doug Eichelberger, the group makes unique “baskets” of crushed-up plastic that can be used as a building material, according to Anabaptist World.
Today, the products are called Redi-Walls. They stand 8 feet tall and can be easily stacked up like large bricks to build a variety of structures.
The idea came to fruition when the duo’s home region of Taos, New Mexico, stopped collecting recycling waste in 2019. As Anabaptist World explained, there was not enough demand for plastic waste, especially from big importers like China, so recycling centers ramped down.
Wynward and Eichelberger’s operation began quite small. They collected just a couple of hundred bags of plastic from local residents and manually crushed them by foot. Then they packed them into rectangular containers made of fencing with a layer of stucco added to help seal them up. The first project to use the building material was a small shed.
“Plastic is lightweight, strong, flexible, waterproof, insulative,” Wynward told Anabaptist World. “It is a building material, so why don’t we use it as such?”
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It’s a smart solution to a common problem, as plastic pollution is rapidly spreading around the globe. It clogs up ecosystems and can take centuries to break down, and microplastics worm their way into all kinds of species — including humans.
That’s why repurposing plastic in creative ways can make such an impact. It keeps the material out of landfills or from ending up as litter, which prevents harmful microplastics pollution from spreading.
After that first batch, the RPP grew into a larger business. People and companies were paying a small fee to give the group plastic waste, and the RPP leveled-up to a hydraulic baler for its crushing power.
Where the project struggles is on the demand side. Plenty of Redi-Walls are built and ready to ship, but not enough customers are buying them, and the group has had to stop collecting plastic for the time being.
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Its leaders reckon their high labor costs and the structural variation between walls make the product less attractive to buyers. Plus, the wall’s insulation is too weak to be used in residential construction, Anabaptist World reported.
These insights will guide the RPP as it refines the product, considers its business model, and pursues new collaborations.
“We don’t think we have the solution, but rather a step,” Wynward told the outlet.
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