House made from recycled plastic bottles could help environment and economy

CTV National News: The house built of bottles Todd Battis has the story of a home that’s exploring a novel way to recycle, built from 600,000 plastic bottles.

There’s a new house in Nova Scotia made out of 612,000 plastic bottles. If it can stand up to the elements, it could be a boon to the environment and the economy.

The home built in Meteghan River contains recycled aluminum, wood and drywall, but slabs made from recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles are the star.

The bottles were reduced to pellets and injected with a gas that turned them into foam by the Ontario-based company Armacell. The foam was shaped into panels used to build the walls.

If the recycled PET can resist moisture, fatigue, corrosion and rot, this new green technology could be exported around the world.

The new approach from Nova Scotia-based JD Composites means bottles that might otherwise end up in landfills or dumped in oceans can find a new use.

“I have a nine-year-old daughter and I often wonder what they're going to be seeing when they're 25 or 30 years old,” said JD Composites’ Dave Saulnier.

JD Composites has said it hopes to export the sustainable home-building technique to countries in South America, the Caribbean and to the United States.

Government of Canada’s Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency provided a repayable $109,690 contribution to build the demonstration home, with future exports in mind.

Builder Joel German says that he was impressed with the fact that the home took just 14 hours to assemble.

“It blew away the whole team,” he said. “We didn't figure it would go that smoothly but it did.”

Minimal wood means that the house is termite-proof. It cost roughly the same to build as a comparable house. And it’s expected to be twice as energy efficient as a typical house.