Converting Plastic Waste into Bricks

Here is the 2nd example of our series on innovative building materials.

May 19, 2025

It is no secret that plastic pollution has become a worldwide human-made disaster. To add to the tremendous amount of plastic waste existing, the EU ships a part of their plastic waste to Asia and Turkey for them to manage (source: European Commission, 2020), increasing the issue in certain parts of the world. The urgency to deal with plastic waste has therefore led to the sprouting of exciting and innovative startups.

By converting bottles, single-use sachets, and snack food wrappers that jam waterways and ruin beaches into building materials, a group of recyclers in the Philippines are attempting to alleviate the nation's escalating plastic waste crisis.

The Plastic Flamingo, also known as "The Plaf," gathers plastic garbage, shreds it, and then shapes it into "eco-lumber" that may be used for fence, flooring, and even to construct disaster relief shelters. The material is 100% upcycled from discarded plastic, and thanks to the addition of various chemicals and colorants, it is rot-free, maintenance-free, and splinter-free, according to the COO of the recycling organization. The business has sofar handled 234 metric tons of plastic garbage.

A second startup called Gjenge Makers, from Kenya, is dedicated to the same challenge, only on another continent. Engineer and inventor Nzambi Matee believes in the value of plastic beyond its disposal. Her startup recycles industrial and household plastic destined for landfill into eco-friendly bricks that are stronger, cheaper and lighter than concrete. By 2021, the startup has already recycled about 50 tons of plastic waste.

Similar to the integration of powdered glass waste into concrete described in a previous post, upcycling plastic waste into building materials not only reduces its storage, but also keeps the material in the circular economy loop, extending its life and thus reducing the amount of plastic produced, incinerated and landfilled. Hence, this represents an opportunity to reduce the current 850 million tons of annual greenhouse gases generated by the production and incineration of plastic, which is based on fossil fuels (source: WWF, 2021). At sustamize, we will be following these innovations closely and look forward to incorporating the CO2 values of these innovative building materials into our CO2 Product Footprint Engine.

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