From Waste to Wall: Exploring the Architectural Potential of Recycled Plastic Bricks in Affordable Housing Design

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🔬研究者:Provides a synthesis of recycled plastic brick performance, highlighting research gaps in standardization and long-term durability.

🏢実務担当者:Offers architects and builders in developing regions a viable, low-cost material alternative for affordable housing projects.

🏛政策担当者:Suggests policy support for recycling infrastructure and building codes to enable adoption of alternative materials.

Sub-Saharan Africa faces a chronic housing deficit, with Nigeria alone requiring an estimated 28 million additional dwelling units. The spiralling cost of conventional masonry materials fired clay bricks, sandcrete blocks, and Portland cement continues to place safe, dignified housing beyond the reach of low-income households. Simultaneously, unmanaged plastic waste, particularly low-density polyethylene plastic from sachets, bags, and films, accumulates in Nigerian urban environments, contributing to flooding, disease, and environmental degradation. This paper explores the architectural potential of recycled plastic bricks produced primarily from plastic waste as an alternative masonry material for affordable housing design. Through a structured synthesis of recent experimental literature, the study evaluates whether recycled plastic bricks can meet the structural, environmental, and functional requirements of affordable residential construction in developing country contexts. Findings indicate that plastic-sand composite bricks can achieve structural performance adequate for non-load-bearing walls, internal partitions, boundary structures, and pedestrian paving in single-storey housing meeting and often exceeding the Nigerian Building Code minimum thresholds for these applications. Beyond structural adequacy, recycled plastic bricks offer lower embodied energy, superior moisture resistance, reduced dead load, and improved thermal comfort compared to conventional sandcrete blocks. Processing variables, including uniform melting, mix proportioning, and compaction, significantly influence performance and must be standardised for architectural adoption. The study concludes that recycled plastic bricks represent a credible, locally available, and environmentally responsive material for affordable housing in Nigeria, offering architects and housing practitioners a viable alternative to conventional masonry that simultaneously addresses the twin crises of housing scarcity and plastic waste pollution.

• semanticscholar https://www.openjournals.ijaar.org/index.php/ajesd/article/download/2196/2240first seen 2026-08-14 05:43:52 · last seen 2026-08-17 05:34:20