Producing bricks from ... plastic waste

Bricks made from plastic waste to build classrooms are an effective solution to help solve the problem of lack of educational facilities for children in Cambodia . The initiative is also being promoted for widespread adoption in West and Central Africa, where there is a high dropout rate in the world because of a shortage of classrooms.

Many Kiddy children stand an opportunity to study in clean and spacious classrooms. The special thing is that these facilities are built of bricks made from plastic waste. This is the result of a joint program between the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and Conceptos Plasticos Plastic and Rubber Waste Recycling Company, in order to use plastic collected from polluted areas inside and around the general area. around the city of Abigail, to produce bricks to serve the plan to build 500 classrooms for more than 25,000 children in the next two years.

The joy of children of Cotoa by the newly built classroom.(Photo: UNICEF).

According to the United Nations (UN), the bricks are made from recycled plastic and are fire resistant , 40% cheaper, 20% lighter and have a hundred years longer life span than building materials. normal construction. Bricks from recycled plastics are also waterproof, insulate well and are designed to be wind-proof. UNICEF A.Cam representative said the lack of classrooms is one of the big challenges for the Diocese children, causing many of them to suspend their dreams of going to school. Dioxin currently needs about 15,000 classrooms for children. Lack of teaching facilities or overcrowding in a class also makes teaching and learning more difficult. The initial efforts of UNICEF and Conceptos Plasticos, a plastic waste disposal company, have been initially effective, by completing and putting into use some classrooms in localities, such as Gambia, Go -go and Tu-go. According to Cambodia, preschoolers living in poor neighborhoods in Cambodia have been learning in new rooms, with no more than 100 children per class. 'Having never thought that there was a place for themselves at school, children can now acquire knowledge and develop life skills in a spacious and clean classroom , ' said Mr. Cambodia. .

Pollution of plastic waste is exacerbating the sanitary and environmental challenges in Cambodia in particular and in African countries in general. In Asia alone, of the more than 280 tons of plastic waste that is emitted daily, only about five percent is recycled. 95% of waste mainly 'stays' in landfills in low-income communities. Improper waste management is responsible for 60% of malaria cases, diarrhea and pneumonia in children, which are considered the leading causes of child death in Cambodia.

According to Ms. H. Hoho, Executive Director of UNICEF, the factory producing bricks from plastic waste is an initiative to support solving some of the educational challenges facing children and the African community. The benefits that the initiative brings are significant. In addition to providing more classrooms for children, the initiative has also contributed to drastically reducing the amount of plastic waste released into the environment, while also helping to increase the income of 'most vulnerable' families. Many African countries are also pushing a series of initiatives, to cope with the growing plastic waste. A number of schools in the Nigerian city of Nigeria and the African NGO Initiative (ACI) launched a plastic bottle tuition project, encouraging parents from low-income communities pay plastic bottles for their children.

Conceptos Plasticos representative said, by turning plastic waste into 'opportunities', the company wants to help African women out of poverty and build a better world for children. The project is widely implemented in countries of West and Central Africa, areas that comprise one-third of children in the world at primary school age and one fifth of children in middle school age. do not go to school.

1. Ecobrick project: recycling plastic for making bricks to build houses, the most effective solution at the present time