Houses from plastic bottles?

A new home in rural Nova Scotia was built from 612,000 recycled plastic bottles, shredded and melted and injected with gas to become a new type of foam panel 6 inches thick.

JD Composites is the startup that built the prototype house. The recycled-plastic panels provide more insulation than typical walls, so homeowners can save energy in heating and cooling.

This type of panel being used to build a house isn't new, but they chose to use a fully recycled material to tackle the problem of plastic pollution. JD Composites partnered with Armacell, a Belgian company that uses bottles rejected by the recycling industry to build a foam core from 100% recycled plastic. The material is trimmed and laminated to create the panels.

The walls are lightweight and engineered to be strong. In testing, the wall withstood 326 mph wind speeds, twice as strong as a Category 5 hurricane. The testing facility had never loaded a panel in the test chamber that they couldn’t break, ever.

The main structure was built in two days. It eliminates the need for framing, separate insulation, siding, shingles on the roof, and nails; the panels are chemically bonded together, helping make the whole structure stronger. The cost for the prototype home was comparable to conventional construction and would save money long term because of the energy efficiency.