Humanitarian Innovation: Insulation Products for Vulnerable Communities
Waste for Warmth is our humanitarian innovation project where we locally recycle plastic waste to create insulation products for people in vulnerable areas. The Polyfloss technology is central to this project, and the Polyfloss machine uses hot centrifugal extrusion to fiberize waste plastic, giving it insulating properties. The project is a collaboration between Field Ready Turkiye, The Polyfloss Factory, and Engineers Without Borders, with the latter (EWB) taking on the project leadership role.
In 2020, together with our partners, we began developing and testing a new approach to winter insulation for tents in refugee camps. Since then, the project has developed and tested various recycled plastic insulation products for a range of shelter types, utilizing several EWB missions.
In 2021, Waste for Warmth sent a Polyfloss machine to Gaziantep, Turkey, and established a research and development hub operated by the Field Ready Turkiye team. The Field Ready team has focused on developing and delivering insulation solutions for the millions of refugees living in temporary camps in Syria and neighboring countries. Using the Polyfloss machine and other plastic recycling machines, the team has developed several insulation solutions, including exterior and interior insulation panels, floor tiles, and sleeping bags. At the end of 2021, Waste for Warmth conducted its first pilot, delivering exterior insulation panels to the French aid organization ACTED. The panels were installed on the exterior of 13 homes in northern Syria, and the recipient families all reported that the insulation panels increased indoor temperatures and reduced fuel costs during the colder months. Since then, more shelters have been insulated with both interior insulation panels and floor tiles in collaboration with the aid organization Watan.
In 2022, Waste for Warmth continued to establish new projects to improve cold protection for Syrian refugees, as well as to identify other potential partners around the world. In September 2022, two additional Polyfloss machines were sent to Nepal. One is located at FabLab Nepal and is part of a project to develop building materials from recycled plastic. The other machine is placed at Green Decision Labs and Research, a Nepalese social enterprise dedicated to urban sustainability and green business.
In 2023, Field Ready Turkiye recycled 30 tons of plastic into floor tiles that were installed in shelters for refugees in northwestern Syria. The Polyfloss machine has been upgraded to process PET plastic, which is important in many parts of the world without recycling systems and waste management infrastructure. In Nepal, Green Decision Labs and Research has actively used the Polyfloss machine and is exploring new products and markets for recycled plastic. Together with World Vision Nepal, they have launched a large-scale project using Polyfloss for insulating school roofs, protecting schoolchildren from extreme heat, cold, and noise.
The final report to Innovation Norway was submitted in December 2023 and can be read here.The final report to Handelens Miljøfond was completed in June 2024.
The project is supported by Innovation Norway and Norwegian Retailers’ Environment Fund
Read more about waste for warmth here
