That's a Shitty Way to Build a House

Tuckerfan · May 20, 2023

Literally!

Used diapers can replace sand in concrete and mortar, study finds

An interesting new study has revealed how old diapers can replace sand in concrete and mortar. In fact, according to the study, an average small single-story house could see, in the future, as much as 8% of sand used in its construction replaced with processed used diapers. What's more, the process the researchers behind the study have developed can do this without significantly compromising the structural integrity of the build.

This process, the authors believe, could be used as an innovative way to help build low-cost housing in various parts of the world. It could also help dramatically reduce the amount of used diapers sent to landfill sites or burnt by making them a potentially valuable resource. This is significant, as it is currently estimated that millions of tons are thrown away each year.

But how is this possible? Well, disposable diapers are manufactured from wood pulp, cotton, viscose rayon, and plastics such as polyester, polyethylene, and polypropylene. With a bit of processing, like cleaning away baby poop, used diapers can readily replace sand with little effort.

To make the new concrete and mortar, Siswanti Zuraida and her team used a combination of washing, drying, and shredding disposable diaper waste, cement, sand, gravel, and water. The samples were left to cure for 28 days, and the team tested six samples with varying proportions of diaper waste to determine their resistance to pressure. Based on their findings, they calculated the maximum amount of sand that could be replaced with disposable diapers in building materials used in constructing an Indonesian-standard 388 ft2 (36-square-meter) house.

According to the study, disposable diaper waste can replace a significant amount of sand needed for concrete in building construction. For a three-story house, up to ten percent of sand can be replaced for columns and beams; for a single-story house, this proportion can increase to 27 percent. Additionally, disposable diapers can replace up to 40 percent of the sand needed for mortar in partition walls, compared to only nine percent for floors and garden paving.

Overall, up to eight percent of sand in all concrete and mortar materials required for a 388 ft2 (36-square-meter) single-story house can be replaced with disposable diaper waste, which amounts to around 1.7 cubic meters of waste. Impressive.

The authors suggest that if their findings are to be widely implemented, it would require the participation of various stakeholders in government and waste treatment to develop processes for the large-scale collection, sanitization, and shredding of diaper waste. Moreover, modifications in building regulations would be necessary to enable the utilization of diaper waste as a construction material.
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That's a Shitty Way to Build a House

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That's a Shitty Way to Build a House

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