sustainable toilet in india shaped by recyclable building blocks

Using the power of construction to reshape and provide sustainable solutions to global challenges, Shikha Doogar, Shridhar Rao, Rana Sarkar, Manavi Dixit have designed India's first 100% recyclable toilet in Amritsar to improve public living standards. The city, like many others across India, has long struggled with inadequate amenities like public toilets and widespread misuse of these spaces.

To combat this issue, an initiative funded by Ruhani Verma was launched to construct a sustainable toilet module. Comprised of a series of sustainable building blocks, the arched toilet takes shape from wholly recyclable materials, including Silica Plastic Blocks (SPB) which gives new life to two major wastes — foundry dust and single use plastic — for a wider social initiative.

all images courtesy of the author

Many cities across India struggle with inadequate access to public amenities. Moreover, measures taken by the government to install facilities have been in vain due to misuse and abuse of the already scarce public toilets. Seeking to create equal access and improve living standards in the public sphere through construction, the sustainable toilet module in Amritsar has been designed to ensure longevity, and embed a spark of color in the community, transforming what is typically a mundane amenity.

The design of the toilet was conceived by making use of 100% recyclable materials including SPB, PVC pipes, MS angles, and HDHMR Boards. SPBs were used for their sustainable and recyclable building qualities, as they are made from plastic waste and harmful foundry dust. Due to their unique properties the block scan be brought down and then sent back to a unit to be shredded, re-extruded, and repurposed. ‘The mechanism of the product justifies all the requirements to become a stronger and quicker aid to facilitate this initiative,’ explains Shridhar Rao

India's first recyclable sustainable toilet

Each toilet module is constructed using two products made of SPB, namely 1000 flat planks and 150 lego bricks. These blocks are completely customizable and reusable, thus increasing the efficiency of this sustainable toilet as a conscious solution. The unit is made on a framework of MS T-channel and MS flat plates in the walls and ceiling. All sides are then aesthetically covered with 15mm thick SPB planks and the inside partitions are further made with Lego styled bricks. On the front, the planks are painted with a corrugated metal sheet door. The module's construction system is simple yet elegant, and can be quickly assembled or dismantled as required.

women's module