A new design of bricks.

[Ben Framed]

Check out this new type of bricks.


https://youtube.com/shorts/E_A-7kiw4F0?si=n9QOkme7-nv_YGcF

[Terri Yaki]

Looks interesting and I'd expect them to have good insulative properties. I wonder if Lego has patent protection on the idea. I used to pick up some 'lumber' made of recycled plastics when I was still working. I never priced it but they told me that it is not cheap when I asked about cost.

[The15thMember]

I wonder if Lego has patent protection on the idea.

Definitely not.  Firstly, Legos don't interlock like that, and secondly, Lego hasn't been able to prevent all the other toy companies from copying their basic design, so I doubt they'd have anything to say about something outside the toy sector. 

[Lesgold]

Really interesting concept. Thanks for showing us Phillip. I wonder what their UV properties are like.How long will they last? Do they off- gas? Being able to mix different styles of plastic together with a cement binder is a great idea. If production costs are reasonably low, they will solve many problems.

[Terri Yaki]

Really interesting concept. Thanks for showing us Phillip. I wonder what their UV properties are like.How long will they last? Do they off- gas? Being able to mix different styles of plastic together with a cement binder is a great idea. If production costs are reasonably low, they will solve many problems.

I didn't consider leaving them exposed to the elements, I was more thinking that they would be covered with a siding of some sort. I don't think I'd want water making its way through the crevasses. And are they mixing plastic types? They are still at least softening the plastic with heat and I've always heard that different plastic types don't mix and that what we call type 2 is what is made into lumber. That's what we use in milk jugs, laundry jugs and such.

[Acebird]

It all boils down to cost.  If they were cheaper than a concrete block they would sell like hot cakes and run out of plastic.  Then the plastic would have to be shipped in defeating the fact that the plastic would be low cost.  Glass is a renewable too and you can make a building block out of glass but shipping glass around the country defeats the low cost of the renewable.  The best use of a renewable is road constructions.

[Michael Bush]

Anyone can patent anything, but even Legos are not original.  I saw full size stone versions of them in Ephesus compete with the round protrusions.  Of course these I assume (none of the video links every work for me) are those chipboard and foam ones.  In which case it's kind of the same principal except not exactly like the Legos.  The Greek ruins I saw were EXACTLY like Legos.

[Ben Framed]

Thanks to each of you for your input. With all the exposure of plastic heaps, I like the idea of having yet another option of putting all that discarded plastic to good use. This seems to be another way of doing so.

Phillip

[BeeMaster2]

Michael,
Here are some screenshots of the plastic bricks.

[animal]

 looked 'em up, plaex-crete . Apparently the blocks shown are undergoing testing for certification as a structural building product (they claim they anticipate certification in 2025 ... aren't specific, but imply certification will be for occupied structures). The ones sold (in limited production) to the public have been different shapes and sold as landscape blocks. The material is a mixture of plastic and concrete and 35 percent lighter than concrete. The only ones being produced come from a "pilot facility" in New Brunswick.

Looks like they're mostly looking for investors .. if anyone here is looking to make an extremely high-risk investment.
Plaex Building Systems  website (mostly working):
https://plaex.ca/