A house made of plastic bottles

A house being built with hundreds of used plastic bottles has created sensation among the people of Chauhali uapzila in Sirajganj.

Expatriate Abdul Alim, hailed from Kurki village at Khaskaulia union in the uapzila, is building a house entirely made up of used plastic bottles, the first such initiative in the district. The construction of house will be completed soon.

The construction cost of the plastic house is half of the cost needed for building a traditional brick house, said the owner of the house who had worked in the construction sector for several years in Saudi Arabia and later in Oman.

Abdul Alim, son of Abdul Hamid of Kurki village, decided to build an exceptional house for his family.

He told The Business Post that he found the idea of building a house out of used plastic bottles on YouTube.

After returning to the country, he wanted to build such a house of his own. To get an idea of how to get the materials Abdul visited Rajshahi, Tangail, and Sylhet districts.

After visiting a house made of plastic bottles in Habiganj, Alim took the initiative of building his own plastic house.

At first, he bought about 28 maunds (40,000 pieces) of plastic bottles from different districts at the rate of Tk 15, 20, and 25 per kg, depending on their sizes.

All the bottles were first filled with sand before using to build the walls.

The Foundation of the house was built under the ground on a 1,500 square feet area, 50 feet in length and 30 feet in width, with bricks, cement, and sand. Then four pillars were erected at four corners of the foundation using the same Ingredients.

On top of the base casting, about 25 inches of brick and cement casting was poured to serve as the ground floor of the house. The design of the house includes three rooms and a balcony.

For building the walls, 2-litre size bottles filled with sand were piled up about 2 feet high and sealed with cement, sand and cobblestone for stability. After that, the 250-ml size sand-filled bottles were stacked up to 10 feet high in a similar way.

The roof casting was done traditionally, with rods, cement, sand and cobblestone. The moulding work on the roof was completed on October 2.

According to Abdul Alim, he has spent a total of Tk 2.8 lakh so far on the construction. He added that there will be an additional cost of Tk 2.2 lakh maximum for setting up the windows, doors and iron grills, and for plastering the walls.

He claimed that building a traditional brick house of this size would have cost him about Tk 10 lakh.

He claimed that even fire cannot damage the walls of the house once the plastering is completed. In addition, the house would be at least 20 times more durable than a normal brick-built house, as there is a layer of the mixture on top and bottom of the sand-filled bottles.

Abdul said every day 50-100 people come to see this wondrous house and he is happy to have been able to build this at a comparatively low cost.

Abdul Salek, a former lecturer at Chauhali Government College, said since plastic is harmful to the environment, reusing plastic bottles in such a way is a good idea.

“Having sand inside the bottle will prevent electrical short circuits and fire damage alongside making the house earthquake-resistant. I believe the temperature of the house will be tolerable in both summer and winter,” he said.

Abdul Hamid, the father of Abdul Alim said, “I was upset at first thinking that my son is wasting money. But seeing the quality of construction work, I am satisfied now.” He added that the neighbours have admired the house after seeing it.

Alam Sheikh, the chief construction worker, said, “This is the first time I am building a house made of plastic bottles. The single-storey house of around 1800 square feet is quite stunning.”

Chairman of Khaskaulia union parishad Abu Sayed Bidyut said this is the first time a plastic house is being built in the locality and has been the talk of the town. He expects to visit the house soon.

Chauhali Upazila LGED Engineer Sakhawat Hossain said people will be benefited if such environment-friendly houses can be built at a low cost. “However, following specific policies for safety purposes must be ensured. We will visit the construction site to determine the quality of the house,” he said.

Owner Abdul Alim wishes to spend the rest of his life comfortably in the house after his retirement. He expects to move into the house after the construction is completed soon.