EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES ON

BRICK ELEMENTS USING PET

BOTTLES

PRESENTED BY:
FATHIMA HIBA
NEIL JOSE
VISHNU K
AYISHA MUFEEDA
NADASHA NASARIN

GUIDED BY:
Mr. Sehle Basheer
Asst. Professor
Dept. of Civil

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION.. 1
LITERATURE REVIEW
OBJECTIVES..
METHODOLOGY.
DATA COLLECTED
WORK TO BE DONE..
SCHEDULE

21
34
35
39
41
43

INTRODUCTION

PETE: Polyethylene terephthalate, commonly abbreviatedPET,PETE is the most common

thermoplasticpolymerresinofthepolyesterfamilyandisusedinfibersforclothing,containersforliquids
andfoods,thermoformingformanufacturing,andincombinationwithglassfiberforengineeringresins .
sustainable material: Sustainableproducts are those products that provide environmental, social and
economic benefits while protecting public health and environment over their whole life cycle, from the
extractionofrawmaterialsuntilthefinaldisposal.
Biphenyl: Biphenyl is an organic compound that forms colorless crystals. It is a chemical found in
reusableplasticbottles.
The Three R's:Reduce,ReuseandRecycle.ThethreeR's-reduce,reuseandrecycle-allhelptocutdown
ontheamountofwastewethrowaway.Theyconservenaturalresources,landfillspaceandenergy.Three
R'ssavelandandmoneycommunitiesmustusetodisposeofwasteinlandfills.

Sustainable Waste Management: Sustainable Waste Management

can be defined as using material resources efficiently to2cut down on
the amount of waste produced, and, where waste is generated, dealing
with it in a way that actively contributes to the economic, social and
environmental goals of sustainable development.
ENSO: It is a trusted partner for companies worldwide , creating unique
environmental solutions, customized applications & materials for
specialized projects.
single bottle test: This test is carried on PETE bottle unit, using a
compression testing machine 1000KN capacity.
Bottles wall test: This test is carried on PETE bottle cube specimens
in a Universal testing machine of 600KN capacity.

Resin identification code:

Background:
The use of empty vessels in construction dates back to ancient Rome, which had
structures with empty amphorae embedded in concrete. This was not done for
aestheticreasons,buttolightentheloadofupperlevelsofstructures,andtoreduce
concreteusage.

Terraces on Monte
Testaccio

5
The house was built with
10,000 bottles of beer
Thefirstbottlehousewasconstructedin1902 byWilliamF.PeckinTonopah,Nevada.

William F.Peck's bottle house

In Nov. 2002, Ecological House : Constructed with 8,000 bottles with composting toilets
andasolarwaterheatingsystem.Thegreenroofcanweigh30tonswhenwetandhasbeen
supported by the walls without any extra reinforcement. It is the first house in the world
madefromPETbottleswithoutusingcementinthewalls.

Eco-Tecs Ecoparque El Zamorano,Honduras

7
Eco tec developed a school building
by using of plastic bottle known as
Diamond school at honfurasi in 2004.

Eco tec developed school building

Reserve water tanks of 20000 liters capacity

made at San martin, Honduras in 2005.

Reserve water tanks at San martin

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In 2005, Eco Tec's Sky Field House : The
first vaulted ceiling using PET bottles.

House and wall campocielo

Tegucigalpa, Hounduras

Plastic Bottle House, Serbia

In December, 2006 Serbian math professor

spent five years turning 13,500 plastic
bottles into a retirement home . The
teachers former students helped him collect
the bottles for the 650-square-foot house,

9
Prashant Lingam and his wife
Aruna Kappagantula seem to
have a flair for doing
extraordinary things. In 2007,
the couple is in the news for
building a house using plastic
bottles and bamboo. They have
constructed a 225 sqft building
in Hyderabad recently at a cost
of about Rs. 75,000 using nearly
4000 mud-filled plastic bottles
that made up the walls .

Building wall constructed by using

plastic bottle

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100 tons of pressed plastic
bottles were made into a
Temple of Trash in Heijplaat, a
neighbourhood in Rotterdams
port area, in 2007. Made by
Salzig Design, this tower was
built as a temporary part of
the Follydock Festival.
Temple of Trash, Rotterdam

Park of life is one type of fountain

which wall made from plastic bottle
by Andrea Froese at cali, Colombia
in 2008.
Wall of fountain made by plastic

11
The first plastic bottle
construction project in
Africa was pioneered in
Uganda by Butakoola
Village Association for
Development (BUVAD) in
2010 in Kayunga district.
BUVAD project in kayunga, Uganda

ARK Exhibition Hall, Taiwan

Dec 2nd, 2010 Proving that

there are all kinds of uses for
recycled PET plastic, Taiwanbased engineer Arthur Huang
processed 1.8 million used
plastic bottles into honeycombshaped bricks for a boatshaped exhibition hall called the

12
May 2011, Samarpan Foundation
has constructed a children school
in New Delhi, using hundreds of
used PET bottles instead of
conventional bricks

Samarpan School after

finishing work

 The problem with reusing plastic: As noted by Plastics 13

Industry (2011)
reusing plastic bottles may seem safe, but a chemical found in reusable
plastic bottles, known as Biphenyl A, is suspected of posing a health risk to
human beings.
Increasing demands of buildings: With population growth in todays
world, the need to the building has increased and to respond to this
demand, the countries tend to use the industrial building materials and
decline the use of indigenous and traditional materials. These factors in
spite of increasing the energy consumption in the industry section; they
can also raise the cost of homes and are considered as the barrier for
users to obtain the basic needs of the life.
The common suggested solutions: Two alternative solutions against
the plastic bottle disposal are recycling and reusing process. Recycling
needs additional energy to treat the materials for producing something
usable. Moreover, the recycling process produces wastewater and air
pollutants.

Plastic: Should it end

up this way ??

14

15
Plastic is one of the most disposable materials in the modern world. It
makes up much of the street side litter in urban and rural areas. It is
rapidly filling up landfills as choking water bodies. Plastic bottles make
up approx. 11% of the content landfills, causing serious environmental
consequences.
Some facts about plastic:
Morethan20000plasticbottlesareneededtoobtainonetoneofplastic.
Itisestimatedthat100milliontonsofplasticareproducedeachyear.
Someplasticwastesacksaremadefrom64%recycledplastic.
Plasticspackagingtotals42%oftotalconsumptionandeveryyearlittleofthisis
recycled.
Plasticsareproducedfromtheoilthatisconsideredasnon-renewableresource.Because
plastichastheinsolubilityabout300yearsinthenature,itisconsideredasasustainable
wasteandenvironmentalpollutant.

16
According to ENSO Bottles, in the
1960s plastic bottle production has
been negligible but over the years
there was an alarming increase in
bottlesproducedandsoldbuttherate
ofrecyclingisstillverylow
ThePETbottlesthatarenotrecycled
endupinlandfillsoraslitter,and
theytakeapproximately1000years
tobiodegrade.Thishasresultedin
plasticpollutionproblemsinlandfills,
waterwaysandontheroadside,and
thisproblemcontinuestogrowalong
withtheplasticbottleindustry.

17

The alternative
solution

18

Weshallbeusingplasticinawayforwhichnoadditionalenergyisrequiredanddoesnot
contributetopollution.
whenwereusejunk,wearehelpingtosavetheobtainedenergywhichwouldotherwise
bewasted.
Ourprojectnotonlyfocusesonthefinancialaspectbutalsotheenvironmentalaspect.
Ithasbeenproventhattheuseofplasticbottlesasinnovativematerialsforbuildingcan
beapropersolutionforreplacementofconventionalmaterials.
TheuseofPETbottleshasbeenconsiderednotonlyforexteriorwallsbutalsoforthe
ceilingofthebuilding.

19
The objective of this project:
Theobjectiveofthisprojectistoinvestigatethekeyandpositivecharacteristicsofthis
productandthebenefitsobtainedbyusingitinbuilding.
tocomparethecharacteristicsofsomeconstructionmaterialssuchasbrick.
Via this project we are looking forward to:
Resolvethethrivingproblemwithplasticbottleenvironmentalissues.
applicationofPETbottlesinconstructionasmasonry.
Echo-Tech(foundedbyAndreaFroese),andBUVAD(ButakoolaVillageAssociationfor
Development,aUgandanCommunitybasedorganization),tooktheinnovativeinitiative
ofusingPETbottlesasmasonry.

20
But none of them has done any investigation concerning the strength
and structural behavior of the PET bottles as masonry.
Type of soil used: First the type of soil used to fill the bottles may
have an influence on the strength of the PET bottle masonry.
Through this project we shall also find:
the key and positive characteristics of this product and the benefits
obtained by using it in building. It also intends to compare the
characteristics of some construction materials such as brick and
concrete block with bottle wall .
It also intends to compare the strength of the three cubes of plastic
bottles of same size with different arrangements of bottles.

21

LITERATURE REVIEW
JOURNAL NAME
APPLICATION OF
PLASTIC BOTTLE
AS A WALL
STRUCTURE FOR
GREEN HOUSE

AUTHOR
MARDIHA
MOKHTAR

DATE
APRIL 2015

FINDINGS
STRENGTH OF
PET BOTTLES
FILLED WITH
SAND IS OVER
THE MINIMUM
PERMISSIBLE
STRENGTH
STANDARD OF
PWD.
PLASTIC BOTTLES
CAN REPLACE
BRICKS IN
CONDITION OF
THERMAL
COMFORT .

 A STUDY OF
AFFORDABLE
CONSTRUCTION
[BY USING PET
BOTTLES]

KRATIKA
KUMAWAT

JUNE 2016

BOTTLE WITH
SAND/MUD CAN
BE USED AS A
SOLID,
EVERLASTING
BRICK.
PROVIDE
ECOFRIENDLY
ENVIRONMENT BY
BOTTLE
CONSTRUCTION.
FLEXIBILITY, TIME
OF EXECUTION
ETC ARE MORE
THAN
BRICKCONSTRUTI
ON.

22

 CONSTRUCTION
ON PLASTIC
BOTTLE IS 20
TIMES STRONGER
THAN BRICK
CONSTRUCTION.
SOLUTION TO
WORLD WIDE
PROBLEM OF
BOTTLE
GARBAGE.
PROVIDE
THERMAL
COMFORT IN LOW
COST HOUSING .
ECOARCHITECTURE
PET BOTTLE
HOUSES

SHILPI
SAXENA

DECEMBER
2013

RELIEF FOR THE

POOR PEOPLE OF
INDIA TO
PROVIDE BEST
HOUSES.

23

 RESULTS SHOULD
BE DISSEMINATED
TO RESIDENTS IN
THE AREA, SO
THAT THE
TENANTS CAN
IMPLEMENT
CHANGES
THEMSELVES
WITHOUT HAVING
TO HIRE
BUILDERS TO
PROVIDE MORE
THERMAL
COMFORT TO
HOMES .

24

 EXPLORING THE
ARULMALAR
CURRENT
RAMARAJ
PRACTICE OF
POST CONSUMER
PET BOTTLES &
INNOVATIVE
APPLICATION AS A
SUSTAINABLE
BUILDING
MATERIALS -A
WAY AHEAD

SOLID WASTE AS
A POTENTIAL
CONSTRUCTION
MATERIAL FOR
COST EFFECTIVE

DIBYA JIVAN PATI

MAY 2012

PET BOTTLES CAN 25

USED IN
CONSTRUCTION
OF COLUMNS,
LOAD BEARING
WALLS WITH
STEEL TRUSSES &
PREFABRICATED
METAL SHEET.
DESIGNING
PHASE OF PET
WITH
INTERLOCKING
PROPERTY IS
INNOVATIVE BY
HOLISTIC
APPROACH.

SEPTEMBER
2014

GLASS BOTTLES
DURABILITY &
STRENGTH TO
OVERALL
CONSTRUCTION

 PROVIDE
EVIDENCE FOR
COST BENEFIT,
STRUCTURE
&POTENTIAL OF
PGM WASTE AS
CONSTRUCTION
MATERIAL.
CAN TACKLE THE
PROBLEMS OF
SLUMS AS WELL
AS WASTE
MANAGEMENT.
LABOUR COST
CAN SAVED,
BECAUSE LITTLE /
NO SKILLS ARE
REQUIRES FOR
BUILDING.

26

 Bottle bricks of
sustainability

Rupali Goud

October 2014

27
Bottle bricks
create a
sustainable, ecofriendly and bullet
proof building
block.
Low
cost,abundent,no
n brittle, able to
absorb abrupt
shock
load,bioclimatic,r
e-usable,need
less construction
material and easy
to build.
Compacted sand
inside a bottle is
20 times stronger
than brick.

 PET Bottles as
sustainable
building material:
a step towards
green building
construction

Aditya sing
rawat

August 2014

While baking of
brick there is a
major issue of
carbon emission
which is
negligible in using
PET bottles.
PET bottles
generally have a
durability of over
300 years which
is more as
compared to
standard brick.
Cost of
construction in,
bottle brick is
more economical
than standard
brick.

28

 Compressive
strength of bottle
brick is nearly
equal than that of
Standard brick.
Cost effective,
energy efficient,
commercially
feasibleavailable.
using PET bottles
is alsoa bioclimati and, thus
we can say that it
is a green
construction.

29

 Investigating the
application of
waste plastic
bottle as a
construction
material

Aditya Raut

March 2015

The walls build by

bottles are lighter
than the wall
build by brick and
makes the
building show
good response
against
earthquake.
Unlike brick,
plastic bottle is
non-brittle .So
due to the
frangibility
property, the
percentage of
producing
construction
waste in brick is
more than plastic
bottles.

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 Plastic bottles are

not frangible,
they can be
flexible tolerates
sudden loads
without failure.
Plastic bottles can
cause green
construction by
saving
energy&resources
,recycling
materials etc.

INVESTIGATING
THE APPLICATION
OF PLASTIC
BOTTLE AS A
SUSTAINABLE
MATERIAL IN THE
BUILDING

MOJITABA
VALINEJAD

JANUARY 2013

PLASTIC BOTTLE
CAN BE USED IN
CONSTRUCTION
OF WALLS, ROOF
ETC .

31

 REUSING THE
PLASTIC BOTTLE
AS BUILDING
MATERIAL HELPS
IN SAVING
BUILDING
EMBODIED
ENERGY.
REDUCING CO2
EMISSION IN
MANUFACTURING
CEMENT BY
REDUCING % OF
CEMENT USED.
BIO CLIMATIC IN
DESIGN .
REDUCING
ENVIRONMENTAL
DEGRADATION

32

 LIGHT WEIGHT IN
STRUCTURE.
WASTE PLASTIC
BOTTLES
OFFERING
INNOVATIVE
BUILDING
MATERIALS WITH
SUSTAINABLE
APPLICATION

DR.PRATIMA A
PATEL

JUNE 2016

PLASTIC BOTTLES
HAVING GREATER
STRENGTH THAN
BRICK.
BEST
OPTIMISATION IN
ENERGY
CONSUMPTION OF
REGION.
COST
COMPRESSION
BETWEEN BOTTLE
WALL IS
ROUGHLY HALF
THAN
CONVENTIONAL
BRICK MASONARY.

33

34

OBJECTIVES
To evaluate the possibility of recycling waste plastic PET bottles.
To test and compare the compressive strength of wall constructed by
bottle brick and conventional brick
To check the durability of bottle brick

METHODOLOGY

35

The following sequences are maintained for constructing PETE

bottle blocks:
collect the waste plastic bottles from shops, waste collectors,
other possible resources
Bottles are filled with soil
Before that check the properties of soil such as plastic limit,
liquid limit, specific gravity, permeability sieve analysis etc...
Then conduct single bottle test with different type of sand
and PET bottles.

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Calculate the compressive strength of each bottles and compare it
with compressive strength of brick
A wooden frame of 30x20x20 cm is used for casting blocks of plastic
bottles brick. The inner surface of wooden frame properly oiled so
that casted cube can easily separate from frame work.
First layer of bottle(containing 4-5 bottles)filled with soil are arranged
after placing cement mortar(1:3)layer (bottom cover).Attach the
bottles together by using nylon rope while laying them on the mortar
layer to ensure that the bottom of the cube is leveled.

37
After placing bottle layer ,space between them is filled by cement
mortar then similarly make another layer as above.
The wooden frame was removed after 24 hrs. Then cure at for 7/28
days.
Repeat this procedure by providing different alignment of bottle
layers and by using lime mortar instead of cement mortar.
Calculate the compressive strength of casted blocks after 7 days&28
days of curing.
Also cast a block without bottles &conduct compressive strength of
this block is also calculated after7&28 days curing.

38

Compare the compressive strength of both blocks of with& without

bottles.
Also conduct the durability test on blocks.

39

DATA COLLECTED
Different types of PET bottles
are collected.
The bottles are filled with local
available dry soil and wet soil.
Performed single bottle test on
each type of bottle.

40

It was founded that PET

bottle filled with dry soil is
more stronger than Bisleri
bottles when tested under
compression testing machine
of 1000kN capacity.

Dial reading for

PET bottle with dry
soil in it

PET bottle filled with dry

soil after being crushed

41

WORK TO BE DONE
Collect PET bottle and dry soil.
Collect nylon rope and material for framework.
Check the properties of filling material.
Form framework of 30x20x20 cm.
Fill soil in bottles. Connect the bottles by using nylon ropes.
Casting of blocks.

42

Keep the blocks for curing for a period of 7 days and 28 days.

Check the compressive strength after 7 days and 28 days.

Keep the remaining blocks in a solution containing 10% of acid
(Na2SO4 or MgSO4) in water for 60 and 90 days after the curing of 28
days.
Check the durability.

SCHEDULE
4-7-2016

Project topic
finalized.

1-8-16

Start
collecting PET
bottles.

10-8-16

Performed
single bottle
test on
different PET
bottles by
filling wet soil.

43

12-8-16

Start
collecting
local
available
soil, material
for
framework,
nylon rope
etc.

44

20-9-16

Start filling soil in

bottles.

25-9-16

Start making
mold for casting.

1-10-16

Start casting
cubes.

2-10-16

Start curing the

casted cubes.

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17-11-16

Conduct
durability test on
the casted cubes.

12-1-17

5-2-17

Check the
compressive
strength of the
casted cubes.

Create the
project report.

17-2-17

Prepare slides for

presentation.

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THANK YOU