Introducing the house constructed from diapers. Using recycled diapers as composite building materials not only reduces landfill waste but also makes homes more affordable, especially in developing countries like Indonesia where the demand for low-cost housing exceeds the supply. Indonesia’s urban population has grown by approximately 4% annually over the past three decades, and more people are relocating to urban areas. Environmental engineer Siswanti Zuraida from the University of Kitakyushu in Japan, who is originally from Indonesia, predicts that over two-thirds of Indonesians will live in urban areas by 2025, putting a significant strain on both housing demand and waste management. Used disposable diapers are typically dumped in landfills or burned, exacerbating the waste problem. Building materials, particularly those required to reinforce a structure’s integrity, are frequently the most significant obstacle to making homes affordable. As a result, researchers have previously investigated the use of a wide range of unconventional materials that could save money, including many that would otherwise accumulate as waste, such as rice husks or fly ash, the fine residue left over from pulverized coal combustion. Disposable diapers, it turns out, contain a lot of potentially useful building materials, such as wood pulp, cotton, rayon, and plastic.
2023-05-26 06:00:00
Original from www.sciencenews.org