Recycle Plastic to make Mesh for Plastering
I made my whole house out of recycled nylon fishnet and cement. The tuna factory where I got the free fishnet moved off the island, and I have no more source for plasterable plastic mesh material. I like plastic mesh because it doesn't rust. Recycling some of our plastic trash, which is a huge world-wide problem, would be great. Furthermore, given plasterable trash sacks one can make "trash rocks" ( http://www.instructables.com/id/TRASH-ROCKS-Eliminate-Unrecyclable-Trash ). One can build with trash rocks; putting unrecyclable trash to good use as fill material inside the trash rocks.
If somebody could come up with a way to melt down and somehow convert plastic into mesh material, it could be a big step toward putting our trash to good use. Mesh in the form of ready-to-use trash sacks would simplify the making of trash rocks. In flat sheets, the mesh could be used to make walls, floors, and roofs.
Fishnet stretches in all directions, so it is good for making dome shapes. Some meshes are more rigid and are only good for flat projects, or cylinders. If the mesh was more rigid, one might buy ready-made, light-weight forms for things like outdoor furniture, take them home and plaster them on-location.
Someone more chemistry oriented than I am might be able to figure this one out. It seems to me there might be a lot of commercial potential in this, too.
4
comments
|
Add Comment
|
When you figure out how to make this MESH, it will improve the lives of thousands of the poor I live with and minister to.
We ONLY have raw materials and "gargabe" to be creative with...ain't no HOME DEPOT around us!
You have a noble challenge there. Unfortunately, I am not a chemist, and don't know the answer. Maybe, you should contact DuPont, or some other petrochemical company that might take an interest in your predicament.
There is already a system that can convert plastic, somehow through heat and pressure back I to fuel, lubricant, and ash. A search on the internet should possibly find it.
Any chemical conversion would probably need equipment, or energy that you may not have available to you.
It sounds like you are talking about poor people who independently can not construct hurricane-proof shelters. Perhaps they could collectively afford a community shelter.
My forte is cement. Given a bunch of plastic bottles and cement, I'm sure I could build, or tell you how to build, hurricane-proof igloo-like shelters, if you have the sand.
I will have to research the island you are on.
![]() |













Vancouver Mini Maker Faire 2012
Rebuilding NordicTrack ski machine drive rollers
Looking for New Zealand-based Instructables authors for conference on August 27 in Wellington
Call to makers - Brighton Mini Maker Faire
Milk Crates - not as green as you think
TEDxBaghdad - Iraq - violence, dust storms and open sourced manufacturing
UK Mini Maker Faire - The Derby Silk Mill - New Poster to Share!







