Furniture, houses and roads of plastic waste; the Nigerian start-up Brickify makes it. The company of Oluwamayowa Salu develops building blocks, which resemble Lego blocks and are 50 to 70 percent cheaper than ordinary bricks. In this way, the company also makes it possible for the poorest to build a house.

No job and home
Despite a university education, Nigerian Oluwamayowa Salu had no work and no home. For a year he lived in the priest's office of his church. And he knew he wasn't the only one. Over 16 million people in Nigeria have no homes. What he also saw was that plastic waste was a very big problem. In Nigeria, people throw 3 million plastic bottles a day in the trash can. One and one is two he thought and came up with Brickify's idea.
Building with Lego blocks

Brickify collects plastic garbage everywhere and processes it into large bricks, which look a bit like Lego blocks. They can withstand water well, but also keep out the heat. In addition, with the blocks it is very easy to build a house quickly and inexpensively. In addition, it can also be made of furniture and roads.
Awareness

The company of Salu is in full development. He has plans not only to pick up the plastic himself, but also to work with families, who receive products in exchange for their plastic waste. Think of soap, money for their children's school, or vouchers for public transport.

In the Netherlands we also build houses of waste, so-called Earthship. In 1972, architect Michael Reynolds developed the first house of empty beer cans with loam, which was imitated all over the world. #duurzaamheid




Houses and roads of plastic waste