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Repackagaing Packaging: Using Plastic Waste as an Architectural Material to Rehabilitate Ecosystems
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This speculative design paper proposes using recovered plastic waste — including microplastics where feasible — as architectural building materials, exploring how creative reuse of ocean plastic could simultaneously address remediation needs and produce functional structures.
Plastic waste and microplastics are wreaking havoc on aquatic ecosystems everywhere. Removal of this plastic waste is essential, however, once removed most plastic items end up in landfills and microplastics are almost impossible to recover. This speculative design and research paper aims to combine real-world technologies with future possibility and utilize repurposed plastic packaging to create ‘plastic eating’ machines. These machines would passively roam bodies of water remediating microplastics and other plastic waste from the ecosystem while functioning as an interdisciplinary research facility.Shredding and melting experiments are undertaken to determine the best and most economic techniques to reform reclaimed plastic. Research is presented on innovative biotechnology that makes use of bacteria to both gather and eliminate plastic from water. Architectural drawings, sketches and designs for the machines are proposed.
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Marine Plastic Waste in Construction: A Systematic Review of Applications in the Built Environment
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This systematic review evaluates how recycled marine plastic waste can be used in construction materials like concrete, asphalt, bricks, and insulation. Reusing ocean plastics in buildings could help reduce the amount of plastic pollution in the environment. While performance varies, this approach offers a promising way to address marine plastic waste while creating useful building materials.
Valorization of post-consumer plastic packaging into a composite material
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This study developed a composite building material from post-consumer mixed plastic packaging waste, providing a higher-value end use that diverts plastic from landfill. Using plastic waste in durable construction products reduces the amount available to degrade into microplastics in the environment.
Innovative approaches to upcycling plastic waste into sustainable construction materials: Addressing the global plastic pollution crisis
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This review examined recent advances in upcycling plastic waste into sustainable construction materials including concrete, bricks, and asphalt as a strategy to address the global plastic pollution crisis. The paper evaluated technical performance, economic viability, and environmental benefits of these approaches while identifying regulatory and infrastructure barriers to wider adoption.
Plastic bakery: A new taste for plastic waste
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This master's thesis explores repurposing plastic waste into new products, noting that only 5-10% of plastic is currently recycled while trillions of pieces float in ocean waters. The work acknowledges that plastic ingested by marine organisms can introduce toxic substances into food chains, including potentially reaching humans.
A Survey on Use of Non-Recyclable Waste in Construction
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This survey reviews strategies for incorporating non-recyclable plastic waste into construction materials, documenting the environmental threat posed by plastic waste in marine ecosystems and its effects on wildlife and human health. The authors conclude that using plastic waste as a component in cementitious composites offers the most promising avenue for improving environmental sustainability while providing a practical construction material.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.