Our skewed sense of progress dictates us to build bigger and faster; but this view on progress leaves nature out of the question and even works to its detriment. One of the trends towards greener architecture in recent times is the utilization of the eco bricks that some construction companies in the Philippines even use for small scale projects like public parks and housing. Eco bricks are pet bottles filled with cutup pieces of plastic wrappers; a solution that helps solve our problem when it comes to disposing plastic products.
Now we look at a new construction material geared towards sustainability: cigarettes butt bricks. Just recently, research found out that cigarette butts are now the new leading pollutant of the world’s oceans with discarded butts oozing toxins into the soil and then ultimately into the water supply.
Dr. Abbas Mohajerani of RMIT Australia has conducted a study partnered with research and experimentation on repurposing cigarette butts as additives to fired-clay bricks. His 2016 study reveals that the model is not only possible; brick productions were also more energy efficient and cheaper, producing durable bricks that are the same time lighter and had better insulation factor. All things considered, cigarette but bricks might be the future for construction companies in the Philippines especially with the government’s plan to simultaneously cut cost and “build, build, build”—the new material is cheaper, durable, and insulated.
Among the many concerns that Dr. Mohajerani is passionate to address about recycling butts is the residual metals left in the filters that seep into soils and eventually go into bodies of water, flowing to rivers and eventually to the oceans. First hand, it’s also no secret that butts make it directly to bodies of water.
By mixing the filters with clay, the toxic metal residues are trapped into the material. Not only that, but blasting the bricks only requires 58% of the power or heat needed to fire up regular clay bricks. This could be because trace metals help the bricks “cook” faster. The concept isn’t only helpful to construction companies in the Philippines but also to supply manufacturers.
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