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Floor tiles from soft drink bottles
Plastic used in soft drink bottles can be costly to recycle: first it must be separated out from bottle tops and labels then cleaned. Instead, the plastic is often burned or put into landfills – but a Shell scientist has developed an alternative.
New material
Shell supplies the raw material that goes into making polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic. This is used for everyday items such as soft drink bottles. Aad wanted to find a way to reuse these items once they have been thrown away.
His idea was based on recycling that combines waste plastic with other elements to produce a new building material. Traditionally manufacturers heat the mixture until it becomes liquid. They add a chemical which sparks a reaction and binds the mixture into a solid, stone-like building material. This chemical can be harmful to people and the environment if used in high concentrations.
Aad’s new process uses a different type of chemical that binds the PET and other elements together without a reaction, making it safer. The mixture then passes through a mould and cools to form a stone-like material called Echotecht.* It has the same properties of marble or quartz and can be used for counter tops, wall and floor tiles, and cladding. It could potentially reuse millions of waste plastic bottles.
*Echotect B.V. is a portfolio company of Shell Technology Ventures, managed by Kenda Capital B.V. under the Perpeture brand.
