Prefab Houses Made From Landfill

For critics who view prefab as "posh," a glorified word for manufactured housing that is still out of reach for most, Ian McPherson’s solution may buck all precedent. His Welsh start-up Affresol turns plastic waste into building material by grinding it into granules that, using a binding agent, can be poured into panels dubbed Thermo Poly Rock (TPR). The panels are then bolted to each other to create the load-bearing structure of the house, to which drywall and the rest of a house’s frame can be attached. The system, he hopes, might provide a new resource for affordable housing solutions. McPherson estimates that each house can divert 18 tons of plastic waste from landfills. And, they have a surprisingly great R value of 33, making the houses well-insulated.