Say goodbye to regular bricks. These eco-friendly plastic blocks might help save us from apocalypse

The professor Dr DV Sreekanth is often seeing brainstorming at St Martin's Engineering College campus with several students till 5.30 pm in the evening 
Chairman M Laxman Reddy and Principal Dr P Santosh Kumar Patra interact with students who made the plastic blocks and bricks | (Pic: St Martin's Engineering College)
Chairman M Laxman Reddy and Principal Dr P Santosh Kumar Patra interact with students who made the plastic blocks and bricks | (Pic: St Martin's Engineering College)

Students are taught about how harmful plastic is to the environment, but how many are really encouraged to use plastic to create something innovative. We don't know about the others, but the Mechanical Engineering department of St Martin's Engineering College in Hyderabad is certainly doing so. Case in point: their plastic pavement blocks and bricks made out of discarded polythene bags and waste plastic bottles. The result of a brainstorming session between Dr DV Sreekanth, Head of Department of Mechanical Engineering and two students, Shanku Vardhan Reddy and D Sumith Reddy, the idea was conceived last year and the trio has since worked on it to bring it to perfection. 

Shanku Vardhan Reddy says that, "Plastic isn't good for the environment, so this is a good way to make the best use of it. It is a great idea for a start-up too."


Waste plastic bags and bottles were collected from around the college premises for this task and the college's induction was used to melt them. "Usually, when plastic is burnt, it causes a lot of air pollution and even leaves behind a residue. So using a furnace to make products like pavement blocks and bricks has more advantages than one," explains the 43-year-old professor. Though they started working on the idea in August 2018, initial trials, figuring out the right percentages and analysing which ratio gave the bricks maximum strength took a while. Then there were various tests like compression, hardness, impact and so on. "We found out that the brick's strength is five times more than regular brick. Not just this, if used to construct a house, they help keep the internal temperature cool," states the professor. They even constructed a bench out of these very bricks and it gives the trio immense satisfaction when students sit on it and hardly notice the difference. 

The A team: Principal of St Martin's along with others | (Pic: St Martin's Engineering College)


With a mission to ensure that whoever graduates from the Mechanical Engineering department feels a ceratin confidence, Prof Sreekanth has been working with students on innovative projects for some time now. Previously, they worked on 3D printers and were recognised at a tech summit held in Vadodara. Bamboo bicycle, reversing mechanism for the handicapped and used wheelchairs — these are some of the projects that have already seen success under his supervision. "Along with being a professor, I am also a student as I believe in continuous learning. One has to be friendly with students and offer them inputs to come up with projects together to develop their skills," says the professor who was born in Chirala in Andhra Pradesh and completed his PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad. He adds that, "Students are the pillar on which departmental growth can happen." He also notifies that this practical application of knowledge is a part and parcel of how things are done at St Martin's. 

The professor also informs that the college management has been extremely supportive when it comes to every endeavour they have pursued

The making:

Plastic pavement blocks
- Plastic bags and bottles that are collected are melted in the college's furnace at 160°C
- Molten plastic and pure sand are mixed in the ratio of 65:35 
- Then the mixture is poured into a mould and it solidifies in eight minutes

Live example: The bench made out of plastic bricks | (Pic: St Martin's Engineering College)

Plastic bricks
- Waste rubber is collected and powdered by chipping at it  
- Plastic bags and bottles that are collected are melted in the college's furnace at 160°C
- Molten plastic and rubber powder are mixed in the ratio 80:20
- Then the mixture is poured into a mould and it solidifies in eight minutes

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