More thoughts on reusing plastic bottles, waxed cuboid cartons, metal cans & cardboard, for insulation & shrapnel protection

Following on from Previous experiments by Paul Ridley reusing plastic bottles, waxed cuboid cartons & cardboard over several years, mainly for packaging items & insulation, I have some more ideas.

A more urgent case for plastic reuse can be made with recent articles highlighting recycling problems, like The Big Plastic Count: Survey shows 'recycling doesn't work' 

  3 years ago, I experimented Making an Insulated Eco Brick by Filling Empty Plastic Bottles with Rolled Cardboard or Plastic & Evacuating Air (VIB))   

As the world has changed with major inflation, material shortages & european war. I believe it's time to revisit some of these ideas. Perhaps such ideas could be used in Ukraine to help protect from sharpnel while also insulating structures internally or externally from harsh winters.

I mentioned protection from projectiles on the blog post: Design method to reuse existing refugee camp tents and further insulate them from temperature / fire / projectiles at low cost

It has occurred to me that using water inside a can / bottle for thermal mass & projectile protection that has a squirt of expanding foam inside at either end to strengthen the structure & seal the water in.

Crumpled or shredded plastic /polysterene / cardboard  (see UBUNTU BLOX ) could also be used instead of water for impact 

 Fabric could be reused at either end & glued in place with the expanding foam for additional strength. I will update this blog with photos & progress shortly & welcome comments / related experiments 

update: 20-7-22 - Relevant full reseach paper on metal drink can insulation in concrete slabs

Evaluation of Aluminum Cans As A Thermal Insulator in Reinforced Concrete Slabs      March 2009  

"

The cost of any insulation material has the controlling rule for selection, the higher the cost,

the better the insulation and the higher the construction cost. In this study, AC was found to

meet the minimum cost requirements, since AC could be collected from Aluminum

Recycling Agencies, beside the minimal construction cost. AC may also be bought directly

from the factory for insulation use. The cost of AC is much lower than the cost of TB and the

PB

4. Conclusions:

The tested insulation materials were evaluated through models, AC showed a significant

results. Experiments also showed that the cans are a good thermal insulation material and can

withstand a considerable live and dead loads, in addition to the low construction cost and low

dead weight. From practical side of view, these cans could be packed using nylon sheets with

suitable dimensions (100x100cm or 50x50cm) for easy installation process beneath the

floor’s or ceiling’s tiles. As it was stated before that the AC recycling rate is decreasing, the

use of these cans is certainly will contribute in solving part of the environmental problems."

 

Edit: 22-7-21

 

(PR Idea) - How about making a living fence or wall insulating panel into a bug hotel by using wood or plastic frame, containing plastic bottles or tins stuffed with cut twigs/ hay etc into, 

Guide here - Build a bug hotel for spiders, woodlice, beetles, bees

Using cans info here