Mr. Nguyen Van Xuan (64 years old, residing in Nha Trang city) started researching friendly and environmentally protective products 3 years ago. After many failures, spending billions of dong, Mr. Xuan’s plastic waste concrete product has recently succeeded and been recognized.
Plastic waste from clothing buttons.
Mr. Xuan shared that when he was young, he worried regarding the problem of plastic waste causing environmental pollution, but did not have the time or money to research it. Retirement age, free time, and stable economy, so he started working.
First, Mr. Xuan intended to use heat to pyrolyze plastic to create oil. Oil from waste can be used as fuel or used for low-speed engines and diesel engines.
The second method is to make bricks by heating plasticized plastic, but both attempts failed because the cost to produce the product was too high. Besides, when using heat for combustion, emissions are created that are not environmentally friendly.
When making bricks from plastic waste, Mr. Xuan plasticizes the plastic with the goal of replacing the cement connector. However, through calculations, Mr. Xuan saw that cement prices were actually cheap and environmentally friendly, so he thought: “Why do I have to replace cement without finding a way to combine it with them?”.
From the above idea, the man over 60 years old went to the internet to find information. Thereby, it is known that the demand for concrete in the world ranks second, only following the demand for water.
“According to statistics, each year, the amount of concrete produced in the world is regarding 35 billion tons, while plastic waste is generated regarding 300 million tons/year. Therefore, I think it is enough to “lock” plastic into concrete. Concrete can basically solve the problem of environmental pollution caused by plastic waste,” Mr. Xuan said.
The method of “locking” plastic into concrete without heating, without pickling plastic, means that all plastic waste can be combined with concrete to create an environmentally friendly product.
According to this man, to achieve today’s results, his family spent more than 1 billion VND on research.
“I make plastic waste concrete not for money, but to calculate how my research can make money. That means useful inventions, recognized by society. If that’s the case, generations only the rear will continue to develop and develop”, the man “locked” plastic waste into concrete and opened his heart.
Plastic waste from landfills and factories was imported by Mr. Xuan to be “locked” into concrete.
According to calculations, to create a stone chair weighing 150kg, Mr. Xuan used 50kg of plastic. Mr. Xuan’s plastic concrete products can withstand a weight of regarding 300kg, are as durable and beautiful as regular concrete, and the price is 20-30% lower.
Regarding the safety of concrete from plastic waste, he said that, although plastic particles are visible, users do not come into direct contact with plastic because there is a waterproofing layer and an outer surface layer. In addition, when manufacturing, it is also possible to “lock” the plastic completely inside and pour an additional layer of concrete on the outside to completely cover the plastic particles.
Currently, Mr. Xuan’s factory has 10 workers with an income of 8-10 million VND.
Mr. Xuan said he is continuing to research into product lines of fine art plastic waste, such as flower vases and decorative vases.
“If plastic waste fine art products are accepted by the community, more plastic waste will be “locked up” and workers will have more stable jobs, Mr. Xuan said.
Plastic waste is crushed into granules to make fine arts products.
Recently, Khanh Hoa Provincial Youth Union coordinated with Mr. Xuan to display 30 stone chairs and “Concrete road made of plastic waste” at the park along Tran Phu street (Nha Trang city) made from concrete and plastic waste, brought brings excitement to residents and tourists.
Mr. Tran Anh Tuan, Secretary of Khanh Hoa Provincial Youth Union, said each stone chair can bear a weight of regarding 300kg and is completely environmentally friendly, estimated to last over 50 years.
“In the coming time, the Provincial Youth Union will continue to coordinate with Mr. Xuan to carry out many meaningful projects to protect the environment and reduce plastic waste such as building concrete roads for plastic waste, food display concrete models and souvenirs from plastic waste”, Secretary of Khanh Hoa Provincial Youth Union shared.
