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Are eco-friendly bricks the future of Indonesia's building material?
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Inside the factory: Toni Permana creates eco-friendly paving blocks at his workshop in Bandung. (Courtesy of Toni Permana) (Courtesy of Toni Permana/Courtesy of Toni Permana)
Eco-friendly building materials can be a solution to minimize plastic waste, but challenges, including costly production, persist.
In recent years, Indonesia has had more emerging eco-friendly building materials.
Ovy Sabrina, the cofounder of Rebricks Indonesia, a start-up company specializing in producing eco-friendly bricks, shared her excitement over the plastic-waste donations she received to create an eco-friendly building material.
"The culture has accustomed people to get paid for each plastic they donate. I was surprised that many housewives donated their plastic waste to us for free," said Ovy.
Ovy said that each square meter of paving bricks contains about 880 plastic sachets.
Bricks and paving blocks are essential materials for development projects across the country. However, increase in production can threaten the environment and public health. The situation is not aided by the fact that Indonesia is the second-biggest marine polluter in the world, after China.
Repurpose plastic: Rebrick focuses on creating eco-friendly materials that are made of plastic sachets. (Courtesy of Ovy Sabrina) (Courtesy of Ovy Sabrina/Courtesy of Ovy Sabrina)
