INTRODUCTION
Plastic waste pollution is a serious challenge globally, having a detrimental effect on the environment, society and health. Ghana produces 1 million tonnes of plastic waste annually, with only 5% currently recycled [1]. Many municipalities lack the means to sufficiently recycle plastic waste, and as a result, plastic waste litters communities as locals are forced to dispose of waste where they can, with plastics ending up in the streets, the countryside and most alarmingly, waterways.
The aim of the project is to convert waste plastic into construction materials (such as bricks) to build washroom facilities for schools. The lack of a washroom in the school affects students' and teachers’ attendance, especially female students, due to a lack of sanitary hygiene facilities. This culminates in the low enrollment of female students and the overall poor performance of students.
BACKGROUND
The Humanitarian Engineering Research Group collaborates with Engineering without Borders Netherlands, a non-profit organisation with the aim of promoting, teaching and implementing sustainable technical solutions in developing countries which can be successfully adopted by local companies.
EWB-NL is partnering with the University of Twente and with TrashSmart to develop a sustainable business model, software for value chain optimization, methods and equipment to enhance construction efficiency, recycling technology for brick production, architectural and structural design for a pilot construction project.
STUDENTS PARTICIPATION
The project led to the following theses and assignments:
Ongoing
- the MSc thesis in Industrial Design Engineering of Geert Talsma <ongoing>
Completed
MSc assignment in Mechanical Engineering of Paula Santomé Lorenzo | Spatial and Layout Optimization of a Mobile Plastic-to-Brick Recycling Micro-Factory, 2026 |
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BSc thesis in Mechanical Engineering of Sjoerd Aalbers | 🎓 successfully defended on 2nd July 2026 |
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BSc thesis in Mechanical Engineering of Elen Grieves | Effects of minor variations in weight composition of recycled plastic-sand bricks on their mechanical properties, 🎓 successfully defended on 2nd July 2026 |
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BSc thesis in Mechanical Engineering of Lucas Kroon | Conceptual design and production of a mix-melt extruder in the context of Ghana |
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BSc thesis in Mechanical Engineering of Kristupas Medekša | Structural Verification of a Dry-Stacked Recycled Plastic-Sand Brick Wall: a Eurocode-Based Simulation Study | |
BSc thesis in Mechanical Engineering of Sjoerd Servaas | Effects of the Size of Sand and Plastic Particles on the Elastic Modulus and Yield Strength of Up-cycled Plastic Bricks |
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MSc thesis in Industrial Design Engineering of Tirsa van der Ouw | Turning Plastic Waste into Building Bricks : A development project for the design of a plastic waste production system for a start-up in Kumasi, Ghana |
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BSc thesis in Civil Engineering of Matilde Patrignani | Recycled Plastic Bricks for Ghana: Designing, Testing and Recommending Optimal Shape and Dimensions for Sustainable construction |
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UT CLIMATE CENTER GRANT
In December 2025, the UT Climate Center granted 40k€ 💶 for supporting the project to investigate the potential of plastic bricks in construction in order to reduce CO2 emissions and reuse plastic waste. The project will investigate the potential use of plastic bricks within the FieldLab buildings in terms of mechanical properties and in terms of energy performance.
INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION & Prize
Our UT Humanitarian Engineering students (Teodora Citia, Tirsa van der Ouw and Geert Talsma) won the 🏆 first place during the UNESCO World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development (WED) with the project 'ManufacturingBox', a container-based factory to turn plastic waste into bricks.
INFORMATION
For more information: Dr. Alberto Martinetti (a.martinetti@utwente.nl)
or visit Engineers without Borders NL
Sources
[1] Akuoko et al. "Rethinking plastic realities in Ghana: A call for a well-being approach to understanding human-plastics entanglements for more equitable plastics governance" (2023) Marine Policy vol.158, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2023.105856