CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING

A. INTRODUCTION

“We assume that everything's becoming more efficient, and in an

immediate sense that's true; our lives are better in many ways. But that

improvement has been gained through a massively inefficient use of

natural resources.”

-Paul Hawken

The relentless pursuit in finding new materials for building

construction has paved way to explore alternative construction resources.

Currently, this endeavour even involves the remarkable use of waste

materials as an inclusion in conventional construction recipes. This

construction development has been oriented towards a more cost-efficient

and environment-friendly construction approach. With each emerging

innovation, varied results have been recorded. Although some successfully

made it to the mainstream market, others did not.

The need to tap alternative resources stems from a myriad of

reasons. Predominantly, construction is dubbed as one of the least

sustainable industries of the world as mankind utilizes around half of all

non-renewable resources for this purpose. Undoubtedly, contemporary

human civilisation depends on buildings and what they contain for its

continued existence, and yet our planet cannot support the current level of

resource consumption associated with them. (Dixon, 2012)

Chapter I – The Problem and Its Setting 1

 Consequently, sustainable architecture, particularly in the context of

using recycled materials for building construction, is slowly gaining

recognition even amidst skepticism. The advent of significant innovations

today is propelled by the need to preserve natural resources which has

alarmed the involved professionals. Solar panels, breathing walls and

green walls, rainwater collection and utilization, and fiber-reinforced

concrete are only but a few of the advances of construction techniques that

surfaced at the turn of the century.

In the creation of pioneering concepts in sustainable architecture,

several methods have emerged specifically in interlocking blocks. Because

the proper laying of block is a laborious, arduous and skilled task,

alternative block structures, configurations and systems have been

developed. For one, mortarless blocks, which interlock firmly without the

need for the addition of mortar or other bonding material between individual

blocks, are now available. These blocks are usually constructed

meticulously as each block possesses both male and female mating

components, such as a pair of longitudinal channels on the top and a pair

of longitudinal ridges on the bottom, so that the channels of the lower block

receive the ridges of the block set above it. Other projection recess or

tongue-groove mating configurations are also known and utilized. (Ruggeri,

2002)

Among the radical notions in construction is the incorporation of

recycling. For example, papercrete is a fairly new low cost mortar mix for

making blocks, panels, poured walls, roofs, plasters, renders, paving, pond

Chapter I – The Problem and Its Setting 2

liners, etc. A typical papercrete mix contains paper pulp, cement and sand.

But there are many variations on the theme, with various mixes tailored to,

for example, structural mortar, insulation, waterproof pond lining, paths and

so on. Papercrete is mostly pulped scrap paper, but many other materials

can also be incorporated as well as or instead of cement and sand.

Although there are no unified standards and long-term studies that are

dedicated to papercrete technology alone, it has already been used in other

countries for plastering and slabs.

Through using waste materials particularly paper and also through

the concept of interlocking blocks, this study shall attempt to accomplish

yet another innovation in the field of building construction. This research

shall focus on the potential of papercrete as interlocking blocks used on

walls in the construction industry. Moreover, this study shall conduct

comparative analysis in terms of quality and cost to other similar

construction materials.

B. Statement of the Problem

Developments in the construction industry have always been

oriented towards fast, environment-friendly and cost-effective ideas.

Interlocking blocks is an example of an innovation which shall lessen the

cost due to its minimal mortar use. Today, Interlocking blocks are widely

used in the construction industry.

On the other hand, a number of studies have been devoted to the

inclusion of fibrous materials on concrete for its fibrous attribute creates the

necessary bond with cement and can act as a substitute for conventional

Chapter I – The Problem and Its Setting 3

aggregates such as sand. Commonly, plant fibers are used in upgrading

the properties of concrete. In this study, paper waste will be used as a

potential alternative for sand since paper is technically processed from

plants. More importantly, paper is readily available and can be obtained

with minimum or no cost.

Overall, this study shall seek to explore the possibility of using paper

as a partial substitute aggregate for sand and use the mixture for

interlocking blocks. Considering the standards for material strength, water-

absorption, and flammability the proponent shall conduct a series of

different standardized tests. Thus, the proponent would like to answer this

question:

Can waste paper in the form of paper pulp be a partial

substitute aggregate for sand in producing Interlocking Papercrete

Blocks?

The study also aims to answer the following questions:

a. What is the right water-cement-sand-paper pulp ratio to create

Interlocking Papercrete Blocks (IPB) that are capable to be used as an

alternative construction material?

b. What are the processes involved in producing Interlocking Papercrete

Blocks?

c. Is Interlocking Papercrete Block suitable for mass production in the local

context?

Chapter I – The Problem and Its Setting 4

d. How does Interlocking Papercrete Blocks differ from different

construction materials such as Concrete Hollow Blocks in terms of quality

and cost?

Objectives of the Study:

The research on interlocking blocks and papercrete alone is very

extensive. The researcher would like to affirm the objectives of the study

through the following statements:

a. To determine if paperpulp can be used as a potential substitute

aggregate for sand in producing Interlocking Papercrete Blocks

b. To determine the effect of water-sand-cement-paper ratio towards

water-absorption, compressive strengths and flammability

c. To demonstrate a detailed process on how to produce the

interlocking papercrete blocks

d. To compare and contrast the quality of interlocking papercrete

blocks to conventional construction materials such as concrete hollow

blocks in terms of quality and cost

e. To find the optimum proportion of interlocking papercrete blocks

C. Significance of the Study

Through the interlocking feature and the waste material that is the

highlight of this study, this research aims to yield a great deal of savings in

terms of cost and time during the construction phase of a project. This

study would hopefully be feasible to the current construction industry

Chapter I – The Problem and Its Setting 5

without having any compromise to the quality and cost of a construction

project.

Once developed, Interlocking Papercrete Blocks shall be an

important innovation since it is the first to utilize paper pulp as the prime

ingredient for interlocking concrete hollow blocks. This study may be limited

to interlocking blocks but further research can discover the other potentials

of paper pulp as an alternative construction material.

D. Scope and Limitations of the Study

For this study, waste office paper or generally known as coupon

bond paper will be repulped and be used as the potential partial substitute

for sand. Waste office papers can be obtained with minimum or no cost

from different schools and offices in the local area. Since the weight of the

paper pulp would be the variable in this study, the size of the paper can be

disregarded.

On the other hand, the interlocking mold for the papercrete shall be

designed and manually made by the proponent.

E. Hypotheses of the Study

As far as the proponent is concerned, there is no experiment yet that

uses papercrete for interlocking blocks. The proponent made the following

hypotheses at the beginning of the study in relation to the utilization of

papercrete for interlocking blocks.

Paper Pulp: Paper pulp, acquired from waste office paper is effective as

an alternative aggregate for sand

Chapter I – The Problem and Its Setting 6

Mixture Ratios

Water and Cement is constant throughout all mixtures (1:10 cement to

aggregate ratio)

Aggregate Ratio:

Mixture 1: 100% sand

Mixture 2: 70% sand; 30% paper

Mixture 3: 50% sand; 50% paper

Mixture 4: 30% sand: 70% paper

Mixture 5: 100% paper

Mixture 1

H0: Mixture 1 is not effective for interlocking concrete blocks

H1: Mixture 1 is effective for interlocking concrete blocks

Mixture 2

H0: Mixture 2 is not effective for interlocking concrete blocks

H1: Mixture 2 is effective for interlocking concrete blocks

Mixture 3

H0: Mixture 3 is not effective for interlocking concrete blocks

H1: Mixture 3 is effective for interlocking concrete blocks

Mixture 4

H0: Mixture 4 is not effective for interlocking concrete blocks

H1: Mixture 4 is effective for interlocking concrete blocks

Mixture 5

H0: Mixture 5 is not effective for interlocking concrete blocks

H1: Mixture 5 is effective for interlocking concrete blocks

Chapter I – The Problem and Its Setting 7

F. Definition of Terms

The following terms are necessary to define in this study.

Interlocking Papercrete Block – The blocks that are made in this study.

The block is a mixture of cement, sand and paper pulp. The shapes of

these blocks are designed such that one block interlocks with the next.

Mold - a container that gives a shape to a mixture or liquid substance

poured into it to harden

Paper pulp – crushed paper that is used as an aggregate for interlocking

papercrete blocks.

Stacking – the arranging of blocks neatly piled one on top of another

Modify – a small change on the procedure of a test

Mixing – The process of combining ingredients by putting them together or

blending them in order to make a single new substance

Repulping – The process of mashing waste paper back into its paper pulp

state

Curing - is the process in which the concrete is protected from loss of

moisture and kept within a reasonable temperature range. The result of this

process is increased strength and decreased permeability.

Chapter I – The Problem and Its Setting 8

G. Abbreviations Used in the Study

ASTM – American Society for Testing and Materials

- An international standards organization that develops and

publishes voluntary consensus technical standards for a wide

range of materials, products, systems, and services.

IPB – Interlocking Papercrete Block

CHB – Concrete Hollow Block

Chapter I – The Problem and Its Setting 9