Plastic homes could solve housing backlogs especially in poor countries

Engineer Frank Cato Lahti is solving the world’s housing problems by building plastic homes. Yes plastic homes. In most countries, governments are struggling to build people homes due to government budget constraints, corruption and mismanagement of funds meant to be used in the construction of those houses especially in African countries. Lahti is the man with the solution – he discovered that by building structures from recycled material, he could help end Africa’s housing crisis.

“There is a housing deficiency of 160 million homes,” Lahti said in an interview with Beautiful News, adding that in 2050 it’s predicted to be worse – with over 360 million of homes that need to be built as the population increases. In the interview, Lahti said he has found that people produce 300 million tonnes of plastic waste each year, and only 9% of this is recycled worldwide. It was a clean-up campaign that was started by some of his village people which led him to start using these discarded plastics to build shelter. These discarded plastics were found on the shore after the clean-up.

Lahti explained to Beautiful News that it was during his visits in different countries where he saw people living in poor condition – dilapidated houses – that he started thinking about how he can help these people by building them better homes using recycled materials. “Affordable housing is a matter close to my heart because I’ve seen the slums,” Lahti said. “I’ve seen how people live.”
With a qualification in house building and engineering, he created a model to influence future constructions.

“The moment you have a home, you have something of value in life. You have somewhere you feel safe, and protected,” he said. Lahti explained that his design, which he has patented, is a technology that he has partnered on with architect Julien De Smedt to produce. He said it can use plastic waste from a variety of sources, including landfills, oceans, and people’s homes. Once shredded and mixed with other non-flammable elements, a 60-square-metre home can be built using over eight metric tonnes of recycled plastic. The different materials are used to reinforce each other to construct sturdy buildings. “One production line could produce up to 5 000 homes per year,” Lahti said. “It makes a dent in the housing need and it makes a dent in the plastic waste problem.”

Editor’s note: It was a clean-up campaign that was started by some of his village people which led him to start using these discarded plastics to build shelter. These discarded plastics were found on the shore after the clean-up.

Description: Engineer Frank Cato Lahti is the man with the solution – he discovered that by building structures from recycled material, he could help end Africa’s housing crisis.

Editor: Anirlé de Meyer

Project manager: Anirlé de Meyer