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Diaper in first use
Photo: imago images
In their search for environmentally friendly building materials, scientists have ended up with used diapers. Washed, disinfected and shredded, they could replace some of the sand in concrete and mortar, writes a research group led by Siswanti Zuraida from Kitakyushu University (Japan) in the journal Scientific Reports. The team looked at how this unusual raw material could be used in the construction of affordable apartments and houses in Indonesia.
Used diapers as a building material could solve two problems at once: On the one hand, they would serve as a cheap raw material, and on the other hand, this use would reduce the amount of waste.
Zuraida and colleagues made concrete mixes with different proportions of diapers instead of sand. They allowed the mixtures to harden for 28 days and then tested their compressive strength. Using the Indonesian building regulations, they then determined which parts of the house could accommodate what proportion of diapers without sacrificing the required strength.
In their single-storey rehearsal house with a floor area of 36 square metres, they were able to use 1.7 cubic metres of used diapers, with a total requirement of 22.8 cubic metres of building material.
However, the practical implementation of her research in Indonesia is still failing because there are no companies that recycle disposable diapers there so far.
wbr/dpa