Plastic waste from the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022 – which kicks off innie Kaap on Thursday – will be turned into affordable housing as part of the tournament’s drive to deliver South Africa’s most environmentally responsible rugby event ever.
World Rugby’s Environmental Sustainability Plan 2030, launched earlier this year, maps out what the sport should do to contribute to a healthier planet.
SA Rugby ran a pilot project during a Test match this year where all the plastic waste – including what was once regarded as non-recyclable material such as chip pakkies and polystyrene boxes – was converted into pellets towards the manufacture of bricks.
Springbok Sevens men’s and women’s players last week helped build houses at a development outside Cape Town called Garden Cities, part of the Breaking New Ground Homes housing development plan for sustainable human settlements.
Fans attending the rugby this weekend at Cape Town Stadium will see green plastic sakkies all around for the collection of plastic waste.
A special plek converts the vullis into an “eco-aggregate”, called RESIN8.
The manufactured RESIN8 is then incorporated into the mix design for the casting of conventional concrete blocks – disposing of 100% of the plastic waste and reducing the need for conventional quarried materials by up to 20%.
Each house requires 1 200 bricks per unit; the Bok Test in July produced 398 bags which resulted in 875kg of plastic waste, producing 3 500 bricks (or almost three houses).
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