Bricks made from recycled plastic to improve rural housing infrastructure in Cusco, Peru

Abstract

The structural, thermal, and construction fragility of rural housing in Cusco presents a very severe problem, which is exacerbated by seasonal temperatures, the scarcity of appropriate materials, and the limited availability of sustainable technologies. Therefore, the objective of this research was the production of extruded bricks at 280 °C from recycled, crushed polyethylene terephthalate (PET), without additives or minerals, for the rehabilitation of rural housing in Cusco, Peru. The methodology was experimental and quantitative. The production cycle included: collection, cleaning, drying (at 60 ºC for 4 hours), mechanical crushing, feeding to the extruder, continuous extrusion, mechanical cutting, and thermal curing at 120 ºC for 6 hours. The manufactured bricks were evaluated in the laboratory with standardized tests, obtaining an average compressive strength of 213.5 kgf/cm², a density of 0.64 g/cm³, and a water absorption of 0.29%, demonstrating very good impermeability. In the thermal test, the ignition time was 180.8 seconds; morphologically, the bricks exhibit dimensional stability (variation <1%) with an average mass of 1080 g, which will significantly reduce the dead load in low-tech constructions. In conclusion, it can be considered that extruded recycled PET bricks are emerging as a valid and replicable solution under criteria of circular economy and thermal efficiency, with direct application in rural self-construction in the high Andean regions.