How Nigeria has found an unusual solution for litter

The UK uses a massive 35 million plastic bottles every day. Just over half of these are recycled, but around 16 million bottles are end up at landfill sites. It’s a huge problem for councils and local authorities looking for ways to reduce littering.  

While some action has been taken to improve recycling rates, these figures suggest that more could be done to encourage recycling. Recently we came across an interesting initiative in a rather unlikely place – Nigeria.

Developing countries often lack effective waste and recycling programmes. However, a scheme across Nigeria has seen discarded plastic bottles converted into building materials. With around 500 million plastic bottles discarded each year in Nigeria, that adds up to plenty of potential building materials.

How are homes built out of litter? 

To build the home, bottles are gathered and packed full of sand. The tightly packed bottles act as bricks and are then layered in rows and bound together with pieces of string. Spaces are then left vacant for the doors and windows before the base is bound with cement or mud. Once the structure is in place, the roof it fitted with a suitable material such as zinc.

Construction of plastic bottle homes is relatively fast with the average time being around a month. The main time-consuming task is the collection of the plastic bottles. For a two bedroom bottle home, around 14,000 plastic bottles are needed.

Why use plastic bottles?

Not only does using plastic bottles to build homes encourage recycling, but the bottles are also available to pretty much everyone, meaning that anyone in Nigeria can build one. What’s more, the houses are estimated to cost a third less than the cost of a house made of concrete and bricks.

The sand inside the bottles creates excellent insulation that helps keep Nigeria’s tropical heat outside the walls of the house, and relative coolness inside. 

Stop littering at the cause

Relating this to the UK, we can learn a lot from countries like Nigeria and their ability to find a way of using the plastic bottle issue to solve another problem. Plastic bottles are 100 per cent recyclable so there is no reason why they should end up at landfill sites.

Amberol makes it easier for people to recycle and for local authorities to meet recycling targets by providing a wide range of bothindoor and outdoor public bins. Our Olympic Dual Recycling Bin has specially shaped apertures for bottles and paper to encourage recycling. One of our most popular bins, it can be found on some of the busiest streets in the UK.

To find out more about the range of bins available and how we can help you, call 01773 830 930 or email sales@amberol.co.uk.