Cape Brick Contributes to Recycling Effort

Cape Brick has donated approximately 2,500 used wooden machine pallets, sized 840mm x 1,400mm and weighing 20kg each for recycled use in low cost housing.

The idea was the brainchild of Vernon Collis, a Sustainable Engineering and Architecture Consultant. Vernon has a long association with Cape Brick, having used the company's recycled bricks for a revolutionary low cost housing project in Mbekweni, Paarl.

      

When Vernon saw the pallets stacked in the Cape Brick yard, he immediately began thinking of ways in which they could be put to use. His final verdict: They could be used as flooring at the Mbekweni project and as shutter-boarding for casting foundations at the Samora Machel project.

This joint initiative has allowed many unskilled people and especially women to become involved in the projects. The directors of Cape Brick were only to happy to be of assistance, as both projects are being built in line with their company policy of "Building a better environment with recycled materials".

Email from Vernon Collis to Cape Brick

From: Vernon Collis [mailto:vernoncollis@mweb.co.za]
Sent: 23 May 2006 06:11 PM
To: sales@capebrick.com
Subject: Old shutter boards

Hi Jean,

Thanks for your "old boards" contributions. They have been a blast....and I believe we can use all of them.

The first sustainable building for the City of Cape Town has used them to great advantage....so too the low cost housing project. Attached pictures of the building going up in Samora Machel ... where your boards were used to shutter rubble-crete foundations. Using simple shutters has allowed unskilled people crush rubble and work...and build foundations. Using bricklayers would have excluded many people. Also, women can also get involved...and at least 50% of the labourers on site are women.

And also a pic of the Mbekweni low-cost house.... boards used as flooring. 66 houses to go!

Your interest and enthusiasm and willingness to help has already made a change to many peoples lives.

Thanks to you and your brother,

Regards, Vernon.