The potential toxic emissions of plastic from Ecobricks were recently put to the test, side-by-side conventional building materials.  With the assistance of scientists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, GEA principal and founder of  Upcycle Santa Fe, Jo Stogel, got to answer one of the Big Questions about ecobricks:  is all that plastic releasing toxic stuff?

In 2016, Upcycle Santa Fe was awarded a research grant through the New Mexico Small Business Assistance program. With the help of a scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Mr. Thom Rahn (Earth and Environmental Sciences), we set out to study whether compressed plastic waste is as safe as common store-bought insulation materials in as far as the rate and type of chemical emissions.

In short, this study found that when used as an insulation material, common plastic waste emits no traceable harmful chemicals.

You can read the full blog post by Up Cycle Santa Fe here:

LANL NMSBA Program – Determining the Emissions of Conventional and Alternative Insulation Types