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The industry is the largest user of coal (used to fire the bricks) in the country and a significant cause of air pollution, and also leads to the loss of fertile topsoil.

He is also looking forward to setting up plants on the sites of different foundry factories so that waste can be managed at source. At the same time, Shridhar hopes that there is more government collaboration where schools and hospitals can be built with these bricks. The bricks can be used in all constructions.

Further, the manufacturing process releases zero emissions into the environment, and the bricks are ready for use after being rested for 30 minutes.

Ultra-Poly Corp., based in Pennsylvania, has five locations offering a range of custom compounded polypropylene and polyethylene resins from recycled plastics. The company also provides toll reprocessing services for plant-generated scrap in several different industries. The recycled plastic resin is then used in applications such as plastic bags, injection molded parts, extruded components, and large structural parts. With an annual production capacity of over 250 million pounds across five plants, Ultra-Poly is currently one of the largest plastic recyclers in North America.

India is the second-largest brick manufacturer in the world, with the Indo-Gangetic plains producing more than 65 per cent of the total production in the country. But, did you know that brick kilns are also major contributors to environmental pollution?

Later, Shridhar founded R+D Labs, their architectural research and testing vertical, in June 2020. “We were conducting tests for quite some time and planned on testing the bricks further to understand how they fare in comparison to conventional ones,” he says.

“I visited their unit in March and was happy with how they utilised waste to make the bricks. Currently, we have sent them 300 kg of foundry dust to make about 900 bricks,” he says.

“The foundry industry in India is the second-largest in the world after China. India produces almost 10-12 million castings every year. For every tonne of casting that the industry makes, about 800 kg of sand is used,” explains Manish.

Manish, on the other hand, says that the collaboration has been helping them navigate the application of the bricks in the architectural space. “We could understand the usability of the bricks and Shridhar’s network helped spread awareness in the architectural community,” he says.

Foundry dust (comprises silica, clay and carbon) is a significant waste for the foundry industry; it is also difficult to dispose of as the particles are extremely light and can remain suspended in the air, causing pollution.

Rhino Machines manufactures these bricks and paver blocks (made from the same mixture of plastic and foundry dust) in collaboration with R+D Labs (an offshoot of R+D Studio, an architectural firm) that helps them with research and development. Launched in February 2020, they have already received orders of over 1,000 bricks and 650 paver blocks. They have also received inquiries from Chile, Colombia, and China.

As opposed to clay brick, Rhino bricks are 2.5 times stronger and 25 per cent lighter. They are also reasonably priced at Rs 10 per piece, making them cost-effective.

“We have designated areas for the collection of biomedical and other plastic waste. Since we don’t have an autoclave machine on-site, we provide them with plastic bottles, packets, wrappers, etc. Once we can sterilise biomedical waste on our own, we plan on supplying that too,” informs Rupesh.

Chetan Shah, business head at AIA Engineering, informs that he learned about Rhino bricks in February 2020 when he met Manish at an exhibition. As a manufacturing company that dabbles in making castings (in addition to other design and development verticals), they had a lot of foundry dust in their factory units in Ahmedabad.

The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) and plastics recycler Ultra-Poly Corp. have successfully tested a process to collect and recycle car bumper covers made of plastic. According to a case study published on March 1, the process could divert approximately one million pounds of plastic from landfills annually. The recycled polyolefins (TPO) display 85 to 90% of the flexibility and elasticity found in virgin material, making them ideal for numerous end-product uses, said PLASTICS.

Manish knew that fly ash was being used to make bricks, so he decided to approach manufacturers who were doing the same. But on experimentation, he found that it only used tiny amounts of the foundry dust, which defeated the purpose.

He then found that plastic could act as an excellent binding agent with the foundry dust and arrived at the perfect composition for the bricks by mixing 25 per cent plastic with 75 per cent foundry dust. Thus, the first version of the Rhino bricks came into being in late 2018.

While conventional bricks tend to disintegrate when divided into smaller sizes, Rhino bricks retain their shape and strength even if a hole were drilled in the middle.

He started researching possible solutions and speaking to academicians and researchers to understand how foundry dust could be used.

“There is no use of water in the making of these bricks. Also, more water is saved during the construction process, as the walls built with these bricks do not need to be cured with water,” explains 52-year-old Manish.

Another challenge was accessing plastic. “This may sound ironic, perhaps since there is so much plastic waste everywhere, but the problem is with segregation. When plastic waste is mixed with wet waste, it is very difficult for us to use it to make the bricks,” Manish informs.

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Rhino Machines also helps quite a few institutions get rid of their plastic waste. One such is the Sri Krishna Hospital in Ahmedabad, that has gotten rid of over 3,600 kg of waste. Rupesh Prakash Nagpure, 46, Head of Housekeeping and Waste Management at the hospital, says that waste is being picked up for free twice a week since September 2019.

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Since transporting foundry dust would not be feasible in the long run, AIA Engineering decided to take help from Rhino Machines to set up a plant.

The Ultra-Poly case study is part of PLASTICS’ larger New End Market Opportunities (NEMO) program that focuses expertise from throughout the plastics supply chain on developing new methods for the recovery, recycling, and reuse of plastic products. “NEMO is all about keeping plastics out of the landfill or environment and in the marketplace, where they can support the livelihoods of more than a million people who work in our industry,” added Patrick Krieger, PLASTICS’ Director of Sustainability & Materials.

Ultra-Poly’s technology does not rely on third-party collectors and processors to gather and pre-process the car bumper covers. Used covers are collected directly from body shops, where the bumpers are removed from automobiles and their reusable connected components salvaged.

Rhino Machines was founded in 1984 by Manish’s father as a project consultant engineering firm. Later, Manish graduated as a Mechanical Engineer and registered the firm as a company in 1996. They have been catering to the technological needs of the foundry industry for years.

“I was on their factory site and saw a bag of foundry dust. I asked Manish about it, and he told me about how he was planning on converting the dust into bricks. Once they finally got their composition right, we collaborated on fixing the dimensions, weight, and other characteristics for the bricks,” shares architect Shridhar Rao.

“This case study is a win all around for body shops, recyclers, manufacturers, and the environment,” said Tony Radoszewski, CEO of PLASTICS. “We’re proud to have innovative member companies like Ultra-Poly out there, seeking new ways to eliminate plastic waste, providing new sources of valuable materials, and expanding capabilities, which means more jobs in the recycling sector.”

Also, while conventional bricks tend to disintegrate when divided into smaller sizes, Rhino bricks retain their shape and strength even if a hole were drilled in the middle.

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R+D Studio is a design and architectural firm in Gurugram, founded by partners Shikha Doogar and Shridhar Rao. After several years of practice in Dubai and the US, the husband-wife duo decided to return to India and start their firm. Shikha is Manish’s niece, and often consults with Manish’s firm for his design needs.

“This project demonstrates that true post-consumer material does not have to be collected only at the curbside and pre-processed by materials recovery facilities,” said Kevin Cronin, Vice President of Sustainability and R&D at Ultra-Poly. “It can also be sourced directly at the point of generation, reducing the carbon footprint and yielding more-consistent recycled products.”

Now, Manish is looking to diversify the applications of the bricks. “We are exploring this new technology where we make interlocking bricks, which essentially work like Lego. This will eliminate the use of cement and mortar in construction processes, making the product more eco-friendly,” he says.

“At Rhino Machines, we provide the technology to break down large sand moulds. Moreover, we also set up plants for clients in the foundry industry to clean and process the sand, so it can be reused through the green sand reclamation process. While 70 per cent of the total sand can be reused, the other 30 per cent, in the form of foundry dust, is too fine to be used again,” he explains.

Through the initial tests, a lot of merits came to be known. For instance, conventional clay bricks can sustain between 3.5-7 kg per cm square, while Rhino bricks can sustain about 14-15 kg per cm square because of the compressive strength of the ingredients.

“Our objective is to manage waste effectively and efficiently. We want to stay true to these values. The larger picture is to look at new ways of converting waste into wealth, and that motivates us,” says Manish.

“Although foundry dust is generated in large amounts, it is difficult to access as and when we want, which is why I have mapped out all the foundries so that the process continues,” informs Shridhar.

To understand the advantages of the brick, Manish needed expert advice. For this, he decided to consult with R+D Studio, which was setting an on-site plant for Rhino Machines.

Until she retired in September 2021, Clare Goldsberry reported on the plastics industry for more than 30 years. In addition to the 10,000+ articles she has written, by her own estimation, she is the author of several books, including The Business of Injection Molding: How to succeed as a custom molder and Purchasing Injection Molds: A buyers guide. Goldsberry is a member of the Plastics Pioneers Association. She reflected on her long career in "Time to Say Good-Bye."

The initial hiccups were to set up their plant, doing something new. “Although we have built a plant that can process about 600 kg of waste in a day, building it required an investment of nearly Rs 30 lakh. Still, not all aspects of our production are mechanised, and we are looking at ways to reduce the workforce,” he says.

“Clients started telling me how they wanted to get rid of this 30 per cent foundry dust to have zero discharge on-site,” informs Manish.

Point-of-generation collection also ensures a steady stream of source material — a single body shop can yield up to 30 scrapped bumper covers per month. The body shop saves money on dumpster space and is relieved of the concern that damaged covers may be “re-manufactured” and sold as replacement parts.

To overcome this, Manish is spreading awareness among schools and society buildings to segregate waste. Collaborating with these stakeholders, he has been able to bring plastic to his factory in small amounts.

Gujarat-based entrepreneur Manish Kothari came up with an ingenious solution to this pertinent problem. The owner and managing director of Rhino Machines, a project consultancy firm, presents Rhino bricks, made from foundry dust and waste plastic!