UN Habitat proposes a quick, economic and sustainable solution to build in the less favored areas: innovate in the construction methods used.

UN Habitat is committed to a complete turnaround in the construction sector and sees a future in 100% recycled plastic housing. Construction with plastic elements is nothing new, but an all-plastic construction is. For this project, UN Habitat relies on the technology of Othalo and the architectural firm JDS architects, which aims to build hundreds of houses with the recycled material in an industrialized way in some of the most disadvantaged areas of Africa.

In the 1950s, the use of plastic began to be abused and to date it is estimated that some 9 billion tons of plastic have been used worldwide. The problem of plastic lies not only in the amount used, but also in the amount recycled, only 9%.

Following tests at the Othalo laboratory in Estonia, construction has begun on three pilot houses for Nairobi (Kenya), Yaoundé (Cameroon) and Dakar (Senegal). The prefabricated buildings have many advantages, such as control of materials, costs, safety, and construction and execution time. All this makes them economical buildings. This project is based on the use of recycled plastic waste that is crushed and mixed with components from the area where the factory is located, using non-flammable materials. It also is betting on renewable energies for supplies, such as solar panels.

The factory is scheduled to open this 2021 and will be located in Kenya and will also be made of recycled plastic. Initially, they have planned to build houses that are a maximum of 60 square meters as well as 4-story buildings. This whole project, in addition to providing housing for part of the African society, estimated to build 2,800 houses per year, aims to promote the sustainable circular economy. For example, about 8 tons of plastic are needed to build the largest houses.

UN Habitat continues to seek global well-being, in addition to placing sustainability at the center of its actions. This project expects to improve the quality of life of the most underprivileged people in Africa. Also, this first initiative is surely only the start of a long list of countries where constructions will be built using this same technique.


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