The only Uni bricks manufacturing centre in Wangdue Phodrang that produces bricks and paving tiles using plastic wastes is unable to meet the local demand. Due to a shortage of raw materials, the factory with a capacity to produce two thousand bricks in a day is hardly able to produce around five hundred bricks today. Uni brick, made from mixture of plastic wastes and sand, is considered environmental friendly and sustainable.
In manufacturing uni bricks, first, the plastic wastes are manually cut into pieces to feed in the grinding machine.
Plastics are then ground into small particles and mixed thoroughly with sand in the mixture machine.
After that, the mixture of plastic particles and sand is put in the extruder machine to heat.
The melted plastic and sand products are then taken to the Hydraulic Press box to make bricks of desired shapes.
Finally, the bricks are put into cold water and taken out of the shaping box.
The factory uses three kinds of plastic items for the brick production.
However, the factory is facing challenges in getting the raw materials hampering their production.
Currently, they collect plastic wastes from Punakha and Wangdue Phodrang Hospital, and from nearby workshops. According to the factory management, though Wangdue Phodrang and Punakha produce enough waste, there is still a shortage of raw materials due to the privatization of waste segregation at the landfills.
They buy the plastic waste at Nu 3 per kilogram. Sometimes, they also buy plastics from Thimphu.
The factory is currently busy producing more than 30 thousand pieces of bricks for a client in Thimphu.
“We are currently consuming, on a daily basis, around 300 to 500 kilogrammes of plastic. According to the municipal report of Wangdue Phodrang they are producing around 1,000 to 2,000 kilograms of plastic. But they just throw that into the landfill. At the landfill, they have allocated another private entrepreneur who collects the plastic waste and sells it to other parties or in India. So, they are not providing us to collect the plastic waste from the Wangdue Phodrang landfill. So, in that term, we are facing plastic waste shortages,” said Dorji Wangchuk, the founder.
Dorji Wangchuk introduced this production company which is the first of its kind in the country. The 26-year-old fresh graduate of Sherubtse College in Trashigang got this idea during his final year of study while working on a research project.
“When you compare the plastic brick and cement brick, we found out that plastic is stronger than cement brick, almost two times stronger. For cement brick, we have to do lots of curing, almost for 26 days. But for plastic bricks, we don’t have to do curing. After being pressed by a hydraulic press, we just throw it in the water for just one minute, and it is ready to be supplied to market.”
Dorji Wangchuk established the manufacturing center spending around Nu 5 M by taking loans and with the help of private investors. His factory employs seven people. A piece of uni brick is sold at eleven ngultrum.
Likewise, the factory also manufactures paving tiles using plastic waste. Tiles are used to make parking areas, in flooring and footpaths. Dorji says, the tile which costs Nu 50 per piece, is strong and will last up to 60 years.
“I can say that waste can never be a waste to anybody. It might be a waste to you but it is resource to another person. So, we should always segregate the waste. Let’s say plastic, degradable and non-degradable. So, we can make anything out of degradable while non-degradable you can collect and store it. You don’t have to throw that. So, if you contact us you can just call us or we can keep in touch with you. So, instead of throwing, if you sell it to us, you will get some income.”
Dorji started the factory in July this year. Through this enterprising journey, Dorji is able to address the country’s growing waste issue and also create employment opportunities in his own little ways.
Changa Dorji, Wangdue Phodrang
Edited by Phub Gyem
