Seven Waste Products Being Salvaged For Your Next Construction Project

Coffee Husks Become Wall Boards for Prefab Houses in Colombia 

When coffee beans are roasted, the thin membrane comes off the bean. These discarded piles of coffee husks eventually produce methane, a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. However, Woodpecker, a Bogota-based company, discovered that the husks can be transformed into a lightweight yet durable construction material when combined with recycled plastic.

Developed ten years ago, Woodpecker has been incorporating coffee husk fibers to make wallboards. They click together onto steel frames to build prefab houses and schools in remote rural areas of Colombia. Because the country is one of the world's leading coffee-producing companies, these raw materials are readily available. 

Once the husks are processed with recycled plastic, the resulting construction material is insect-resistant, affordable, durable, and fireproof – offering the perfect housing solution.

Old Jeans Become Insulation

Natural fibers can make high-performance insulation. Manufacturers have been providing scraps of denim to make insulation for residential and commercial projects, rather than ditching these remnants in the garbage. Old cotton jeans can be used instead of fiberglass or wool between wall studs and ceiling joists, in attics, and anywhere else traditional insulation is applied. 

Creating this type of insulation requires much less energy than the fiberglass variety. The denim bits are shredded into loose fibers and treated with a non-toxic, EPA-approved borate solution to improve its fire-resistance rating. It also gets treated to resist mold, mildew, and insects. 

Denim scrap insulation offers excellent thermal performance, boosting HVAC efficiency and saving energy, too. You can purchase it in several R-values and sizes to fit snugly into different areas of the home. 

While using recycled jeans insulation can be double the cost of fiberglass, this type of insulation provides higher acoustic ratings than traditional products.

The recycled fibers do not off-gas because they do not contain any volatile organic compounds or formaldehyde. At the end of the insulation's natural lifespan, the cotton fibers are then 100% recyclable.

Bonded Logic, a company in Arizona, uses shredded denim to make insulation containing 80% post-consumer recycled natural fibers. The product is packaged into perforated batts, which makes installation more manageable – you tear off only the amount you need. 

You can even make your own insulation with a pile of old denim if you have small areas in your home that need a little draft protection. Keep in mind - given the DIY nature of this project, results will vary widely!

Sustainable Materials, a company based in Colorado, uses post-industrial corks to make mosaic tiles for flooring and wall installations for residential and commercial applications.

Natural Bark Finds New Purpose as Siding 

Working with loggers in the plywood and furniture industries, Asheville, NC-based BarkClad, wants to be sure every part of a tree gets put to good use instead of being tossed into a chipper. The company uses trees that were already cut down for other projects and repurposes the bark into wood siding for both interior and exterior applications for homes across North America.

Another North Carolina company, Bark House, offers regenerative poplar bark – another waste product of the logging industry – and transforms it into shingle siding and wall tiles. Bark siding can last up to 80 years or more, depending on the type of tree.