May 22, 2023 01:38 PM
(This post was last modified: May 22, 2023 02:14 PM by C C.)
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-01701-x
INTRO: In an attempt to solve two environmental problems at once, researchers at the University of Kitakyushu in Japan have found that shredded nappies can be used to replace between 9 and 40% of the sand used in making concrete without reducing its strength. Disposable nappies are a growing source of non-recyclable waste, and cement production is responsible for almost 7% of global greenhouse-gas emissions and consumes around 50 billion tonnes of sand each year.
The nappy-infused concrete was used to build a small house in Indonesia, to demonstrate how this type of waste could be diverted from landfills to build more affordable housing in low- and middle-income communities.
Siswanti Zuraida, a civil engineer at the University of Kitakyushu, began the project while lecturing at the Bandung Science Technology Institute near Jakarta. Although population numbers in wealthy countries often plateau and decline, those in Indonesia and other low- and middle-income countries will continue growing — leading to more babies, more nappies and more demand for low-cost housing.
“It’s all about the resource availability,” says Zuraida. “With the growth of the population, the diaper waste will also grow. It’s challenging, so we thought that this would be a part of our contribution to recycling this waste.”
Single-use nappies are typically made from wood pulp, cotton and super-absorbent polymers, small amounts of which have been shown to improve the mechanical properties of concrete. With funding from a Jakarta-based waste-management company called Awina, Zuraida set out to determine how much sand could be swapped for shredded nappies to create useful concrete and mortar... (MORE - details)
PAPER: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-32981-y
INTRO: In an attempt to solve two environmental problems at once, researchers at the University of Kitakyushu in Japan have found that shredded nappies can be used to replace between 9 and 40% of the sand used in making concrete without reducing its strength. Disposable nappies are a growing source of non-recyclable waste, and cement production is responsible for almost 7% of global greenhouse-gas emissions and consumes around 50 billion tonnes of sand each year.
The nappy-infused concrete was used to build a small house in Indonesia, to demonstrate how this type of waste could be diverted from landfills to build more affordable housing in low- and middle-income communities.
Siswanti Zuraida, a civil engineer at the University of Kitakyushu, began the project while lecturing at the Bandung Science Technology Institute near Jakarta. Although population numbers in wealthy countries often plateau and decline, those in Indonesia and other low- and middle-income countries will continue growing — leading to more babies, more nappies and more demand for low-cost housing.
“It’s all about the resource availability,” says Zuraida. “With the growth of the population, the diaper waste will also grow. It’s challenging, so we thought that this would be a part of our contribution to recycling this waste.”
Single-use nappies are typically made from wood pulp, cotton and super-absorbent polymers, small amounts of which have been shown to improve the mechanical properties of concrete. With funding from a Jakarta-based waste-management company called Awina, Zuraida set out to determine how much sand could be swapped for shredded nappies to create useful concrete and mortar... (MORE - details)
PAPER: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-32981-y