In a unique initiative, citizens in Hyderabad will soon be able to experience the interiors of an office made with recycled plastic and bamboo.
The structure, which is going to serve as the office of a public park in the city's Kukatpally area, was taken up as a pilot project by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).
"The idea was to make something innovative and eco-friendly. We were working on this idea over the past year-and-a-half, and we were in touch with manufacturers across the country," said Prashant Lingam, one of the founders of Bamboo House India. Bamboo House India seeks to showcase that recycling scrap can be put to functional use in public spaces and is not limited to street art.
"The structure is made of half plastic and half bamboo and is fireproof, waterproof and termite-proof. We went one step ahead. The flooring tiles are also made with recycled plastic," Prashant said.
“A rough figure would be to say that we consumed 10 lakh polythene covers to build this structure. The roofing sheet is made with recycled polythene covers and PET bottles and it is much sturdier than other materials. It also does not emit anything toxic as the fumes are released when the plastic is processed before it comes to us. We got the test results and double checked the same," he added.
Most of the scrap was made in Gujarat, Prashant said.
"They have been making small sheds and structures like that but nothing had been done so far in the south. We feared that the room might heat up but the temperature actually went down by 2-4 degree Celsius," he said.
"Across the country, several manufacturers are working on this building material but there is no combination of ideas. Some are making only tiles, while others are only making walls. Our idea was to combine everything," he added.
The pilot project was supported by GHMC West Zone Zonal Commissioner Hari Chandana Dasari. The municipal body is looking to inaugurate the structure in the first or second week of June.
"We are also looking at making a public toilet module and are in the process of constructing few pilots, using plastic as a substitute to replace walls and roofing sheets," Prashant said.
Bamboo House India is known for constructing eco-friendly houses not made of bricks, cement and steel, but entirely made out of bamboo. However, it is now looking at promoting recycled plastic.
"We are trying to get people to shift from bamboo houses to recycled plastic, but people are not open to change. They don't understand recycled plastic and think that it is not eco-friendly. We have pinned our hopes on the GHMC to promote this as well," he said.