Use of Garment Waste Fabrics Making Ecofriendly, Lightweight & Low Cost Bricks.

Abstract

At the present condition of environmental hazards global warming is the most alarming one. Our brick fields contribute a lot in this serious condition by producing huge carbon emissions at the time of burning bricks. Also, huge amounts of garment waste are disposed every day in our country that also pollute our river and fill the river day by day specially around Dhaka region. In this study, an attempt was made to combine the two problems to find one fruitful solution. By using garment wastes to produce ecofriendly, light weight and economic brick. Ecofriendly bricks are prepared in the laboratory by using garment waste fabrics with cement and sand that can be replaced brick fields by green brick manufacturer industry. Several sets of bricks are prepared in laboratory and tested to assure the quality of bricks by comparing it to the conventional burnt clay bricks. Satisfactory results are found for compressive strength, hardness, water absorption and unit weight test. The capacity of ecofriendly bricks against compression is very satisfying. The compressive strength for traditional burnt clay brick is 2500 psi (according to ASTM) but this modified brick poses 5500 psi. Also, some parameters are checked for eco-friendliness. This type of brick industry is free from pollution because generation of heat energy due to burning of wood is not required here. The amount of waste fabrics in a modified brick is about 14% of its weight, so it can be said that, a large amount of waste fabrics are consumed. The weight of modified lightweight brick is 2.3 kg which is 1.2 kg less than our conventional burnt clay brick. Cost analysis for making 1 brick is done which is less than the present cost of burnt clay brick. It can be highly recommended in our construction sector.