Plastic Solutions

Turning waste plastic into building materials

This project aims to convert waste plastic into building materials. Plastic is a valuable material, but we throw them out in abundance. Plastic is durable and long lasting. This project aims to take advantage of the material properties of plastic to make building materials such as plastic bricks and cladding for housing applications.

Our goal is to build a small house made of plastic and show that plastic is not only a viable building material, but can be desirable while at the same time solving the plastic waste and pollution problem.

Our research activities include:

Designing modular construction techniques using self-supporting stackable plastic bricks and claddings. Such techniques would eliminate the need for supporting frames, thus reducing building materials and shortening building times.

Investigating structural properties of plastic bricks and beams to meet Australian building standards.

Investigating fire properties of plastic bricks and beams to meet Australian building standards.

Developing plastic waste sorting techniques.

The Plastic House. Image credit: dezen.com

⁠

Project Team

Associate Professor Thinh Nguyen (Project Supervisor)

Shu Namora (Masters in Project Management)

Travis Rand (Construction Management)

David Gluhak (Mechanical Engineering)

Sharifa Yusrah (Building Design)

Join the Team

We are looking for students from all engineering and building disciplines.

Capstone projects are available for civil, mechanical and electrical engineering students.

Contact

To express your interest in joining the team, or for further information, contact Associate Professor Thinh Nguyen at

thinh.nguyen@vu.edu.au⁠

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