Researchers in Melbourne, Australia, are replacing the cement in concrete with a surprising material: fibers from high-visibility vests, SBS News reports.
Associate Professor Malindu Sandanayake from Victoria University has led a team to transform this surprisingly plentiful waste material.
"Hi-vis vests don't last for long, it just only lasts around 25 washes," said Sandanayake in an interview with SBS News. "So that means we tend to find these high-vis vests quite a lot going to landfills. So we wanted to find an effective solution to be used, probably as a cement replacement material in concrete."
Over 12,000 tons of this material end up in landfills every year, per SBS News. But the synthetic fibers themselves are tough and durable — perfect for use in concrete.
Sandanayake and his team used the fibers to replace cement, the glue that holds the gravel and sand in concrete together. The result looks and feels like ordinary concrete — and it holds up under testing, too.
"Because of the synthetic fibers that are present in high-vis vests, it can act as a reinforcing agent within the concrete," Sandanayake said. "And also because it bonds all the materials together, it improves the fire properties in concrete and delays the spoiling process."
As an initial trial of the material, the team constructed a walking path in the Mahamevnawa Buddhist Monastery, where Professor Sandanayake is a disciple.
"Actually we are so happy because it, even when we are walking, it is very same. I mean it is pretty like a normal concrete," Monk Sasana Bodhi Thero told SBS News.
Thero was pleased to be part of the trial for a material that could cut back on unnecessary waste and reduce the need for harvesting materials from the environment. "The environment is directly helping to our happiness and especially our health … If we are really trying to protect our environments, that means we are really trying to help for every single being who are living in the world," he said.
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Hi-vis vests aren't the only recycled material that can be used in concrete. Researchers at RMIT are working on turning used coffee grounds into a replacement for the sand in the concrete mixture, SBS News revealed. Other updated concrete recipes are also making their way into the world.
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