Composition: paper, sand/pulverised glass, clay, lime, cement

Uses: construction materials for insulation and structure

Savings to landfill in cubic metres:
end of year one: 1900 cubic metres for Golden Bay
end of year two: 10,300 cubic metres for entire Tasman District

Aim: Eliminate the volume of "waste" paper and glass going to landfill by turning it into a useful, high-quality product—papercrete. Create jobs in the manufacture of papercrete materials and their use in construction.

Papercrete was first used during the Depression years when there were shortages of building supplies. It has since enjoyed a revival in North America and Europe for present-day low-cost energy-efficient building materials.
Paper fiber is a strong material when made into a slurry and mixed with small amounts of sand or pulverized glass and clay, lime or cement. Depending on the construction application, the papercrete is mixed for greater strength and durability. Papercrete can also be mixed to be highly fire-resistant. Its R-value (insulating value) is between 2 and 3 per 25 mm (inch), superior to glass wool and wool batts. It can be made into blocks, tamped into forms, spray applied as in shotcrete, applied by hand or trowel, or formed into prefab building units, sheets for rigid insulation and furniture. A number of waterproofing materials can be used to weather-seal papercrete.

Standards for papercrete construction materials already exist in North America, where papercrete has already met building code standards in several regions.
There is a ready market for papercrete, which has superior structural integrity to adobe and the additional function of insulation.

For large batches of papercrete a mixer that can handle one to two cubic metres per batch is required. Regular cement mixers are unsuitable because the paper slurry has to be chewed into bits of a certain consistency before mixing with the other ingredients. We have constructed a papercrete mixer for small batches of up to one-tenth cubic meter. We re-engineered this mixer from a tractor fertilizer machine, a 44-gallon drum and a 1 1/2 HP electric motor as well as other pulleys and bits.
A larger commercial-grade mixer can be engineered locally. This mixer could produce larger amounts of papercrete for blocks and to deliver moderate to large amounts of papercrete to construction sites in a tanker truck. The cost for parts and engineering for design and construction of the mixer is a part of our request for Zero Waste funds.

The already constructed small mobile papercrete mixer has been in use on site at the Golden Bay Community Gardens for several projects. The main building is of adobe brick, and papercrete is being used to insulate its roof, and to build two non-bearing walls for a small addition for seed storage and two outside park benches.

For a consistent product as well as to make the process more energy efficient, it is beneficial to add shredded, presoaked paper to the mixer. A commercial grade paper shredder would accomplish this, and waste paper from all Golden Bay sources including Golden Bay High School could be shredded and stockpiled at the papercrete production site. The cost of a commercial paper shredder is requested from Zero Waste funds.
Michael Weir of Weirdo’s Hire-A-Bin has a ball grinder and will experiment with pulverizing glass for different applications. He can supply the pulverized glass for papercrete production.
All recovered resources can be stockpiled readily, inexpensively, and in compliance with regulations. The stockpiles will be reused to manufacture products for sale on site or distributed to customers directly or sold wholesale to shops and industries in Golden Bay. Consequently most of the stockpiles will be of finished goods for markets.

There is a great deal of interest in papercrete in Golden Bay. It has the potential to become popular as an energy efficient insulation and building material, because it provides in one material the dual functions of structure and insulation, as well as being inexpensive. Customers who purchase materials and products made from papercrete will also realize that they are contributing to TDC's Yero Waste plan and their community’s recycling efforts, plus saving ratepayers’ money by not burying reusable resources at the landfill.

Paper and glass make up more than 20% of total waste to landfill (TDC Draft Zero Waste Strategy), totaling 1900 cubic meters in Golden Bay. It costs $30-$100 per cubic metre to bury waste at the landfill (Jim Wareing, TDC Engineer, TDC Zero Waste public meeting, Takaka). At $50 per cubic metre, remanufacturing waste paper and glass to papercrete would result in a savings for Golden Bay of about $95,000 per year, and about $380,000 per year for all of Tasman District, at present cost and mixed-waste volume data for 1999/00 (TDC Zero Waste Strategy). Our Zero Waste funding request of $4800 is about 5% of the $95,000 annual savings from not burying paper and glass from Golden Bay at landfill.

The substantial savings in waste-to-landfill costs, the creation of regional employment opportunities in the manufacture and use of papercrete, and the significant contribution to achieving TDC’s waste reduction targets, make papercrete a priority project for funds from TDC’s Zero Waste budget.

Te Wharerangi Trust intends to use the triple bottom line accounting analysis given consideration in the TDC Zero Waste Strategy for use in TDC’s Annual Plans, reports, etc. Triple bottom line includes social, environmental and economic costs and benefits (people, planet, profit). In addition to direct economic savings to the TDC, social and environmental benefits are generated by resource recovery and reuse of stockpiled recyclables for production of saleable goods. Local, sustainable livelihoods for Golden Bay residents are created, meaning a more self-sufficient community, with income regenerating and fewer resources leaving. Some of the environmental benefits are reduction in fossil fuel use and air pollution from a decreased need for transport of the materials and for machinery to dig and bury it, as well as prevention of contamination of soils and water.

If all of Tasman District’s “waste” newsprint, magazines, office paper, etc, as well as glass, is used for papercrete construction and for papercrete insulation applications, rather than buried at the landfill, that alone would accomplish the TDC Zero Waste Strategy waste reduction target of 20% within the first two years of implementing theTDC Zero Waste Strategy.