Earthquake resistant school built from recycled plastic in Indonesia

Three years after the Indonesian island of Lombok was devastated by earthquakes, a team of Australian and Indonesian charities have created Asia’s first sustainable, earthquake-resistant school on the island.

Key Points: SDN 4 Taman Sari Built with recycled, granulated plastic mixed with wood fibres, Built in less than a week Can last more than 100 years The flexibility of the blocks makes them safer than traditional building materials for earthquake-prone areas

Entire villages were devastated, more than 550 people were killed and 417,000 were displaced when two earthquakes hit the island on August 5 and 19, 2018.

Infrastructure such as businesses, homes and schools have been wiped out, and as part of the rebuilding process, a new eco-friendly and earthquake-resistant school, SDN 4 Taman Sari, was constructed in June.

It is located in the village of Taman Sari, 10 kilometers north of the regional capital, Mataram.

The key to the school’s sustainability and resilience to earthquakes is the use of “eco-blocks”, which are made of recycled plastic mixed with wood.

It’s lightweight, strong, and easy to assemble – it only took six days to build the SDN 4 Taman Sari.

After the foundations are laid, blocks can be formed into the walls by stacking them manually. Then add the roof and windows.

The eco-friendly school will last more than 100 years, says one of the people behind its construction.

Supplied: Eszter Papp

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The blocks are designed to avoid causing fatal injuries in an earthquake.

Due to its flexibility, it is less likely to crumble or collapse.

Seismic resistance, or the ability to resist an earthquake, increases because walls made of environmental blocks flex rather than snap.

Their light weight, and the way the blocks fit together, also mean they can handle much more movement than traditional brick and mortar.

Duncan Ward is the founder and CEO of Classroom of Hope, an Australian charitable organization that spearheaded the Eco-School project in Lombok.

Classroom of Hope began in 2012 with the goal of helping children living in poverty access education. To date, the organization has built more than 75 schools across Asia and Africa.

The idea for an eco-cluster school first arose in 2018. (

Supplied: Eszter Papp

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SDN 4 Taman Sari is the first school made of eco-blocks, although Mr Ward said his organization has plans to build more.

“[These schools] They are more durable, lightweight, cost effective, will last for more than 100 years, and clean the environment,” said Mr. Ward.

“People were a little unsure.”

Classroom of Hope has collaborated with a number of partners, including local government as well as the Pelita charity.

At first, the villagers were not sure that the school could be built with eco-friendly materials in a short period of time.

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Pelita, which means “bright light” in Indonesian, is a local not-for-profit charity in Lombok that supports education across the island.

Satriawan Omari, CEO of Pelita, said the initial reaction to the idea of ​​setting up an environmental school was mixed.

“When I brought up the idea, [people] They were a little unsure.”

“But then, I showed them some examples of similar buildings. I explained the materials and how [this project] It will be good for the environment because it will use recycled plastic.”

By the time construction began, most were excited to see the new school completed.

“When the community started seeing the materials arrive and the school started to take shape, the children couldn’t wait to start studying there,” said Mr. Al Ameri.

Ameri says after the initial mixed reactions, people were excited about the school’s construction. (

Supplied: Eszter Papp

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Marizal has been teaching physical education in West Lombok for 11 years. He is now in SDN 4 Taman Sari.

With the establishment of the new school, he experienced an extraordinary transformation.

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“Our school, which was once a temporary school, with plywood walls and dirt floors, has become a beautiful, clean and tidy eco-friendly school,” he said.

Pazila Aulia, a fifth year student at SDN 4 Taman Sari, was excited to resume learning at the new school.

She said, “I loved seeing the building rise, its walls arranged like Lego. It looks very elegant – it’s beautiful.”

“It feels like bamboo…I’m really enjoying this school, and I’m more excited about learning because it’s not so hot anymore.”

Ideal material for earthquake-prone areas

The idea of ​​creating a school with an eco-block first arose in 2018, when the Classroom of Hope was providing support in Lombok after the earthquakes.

At the time, Mr. Ward was living in Bali with his family after they moved from Perth.

“We were shaken here in my mind,” he said. “I remember I got up, ran to take my daughter and ran into the rice fields with my wife because the whole house was shaking.”

“The next morning, I was overwhelmed with phone calls from people I knew living in Lombok, in the Gili Islands, and from expats, locals—people I care about—whose homes had been destroyed.”

Classroom of Hope founders Duncan and Nicola Ward set up 23 pop-up schools before finding a durable solution. (

Supplied: Eszter Papp

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Mr. Ward traveled to Lombok and joined the Classroom of Hope in recovery efforts soon after.

“We were part of the first response trying to raise funds from a disaster relief perspective, for search and rescue, water, food, and just getting people to safety in the first place,” he said.

In cooperation with the Pelita Foundation, they created 23 pop-up schools, which allowed 4,000 children to return to school. But it wasn’t a permanent solution.

“The whole place was like a war zone,” said Mr. Ward.

“The government spoke to us and asked if we could build permanent structures. I said, ‘No, we can’t, because all your permanent facilities are in ruins.'”

“This started sending my mind to – how do we build permanent structures that are earthquake-resistant?”

Mr. Ward contacted Block Solutions, the Finnish company responsible for eco-block technology. It was already using ecological blocks to build low-income housing projects in Africa.

Block Solutions uses recycled plastic, breaks it down into granules and then blends it with wood fibres. This mixture is then processed by an injection molding machine to create the environmental clocks.

According to Mr. Ward, this is the ideal material for rebuilding permanent schools in earthquake-prone areas.

The school is built from recycled plastic, pelleted and then mixed with wood fibres.

Supplied: Eszter Papp

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“For every classroom you build, you remove tons to three tons of plastic waste [from the environment],” He said.

“Indonesia being the second largest polluter in the world, it makes sense…and it’s in line with what the government is trying to do.”

By mid-2021, the planning process had been completed and the materials had arrived in Lombok from Finland. Then it took six days to build.

Marizal hopes this method will be used more widely to provide education to communities still recovering from earthquakes.

“I think these eco-blocks are a very suitable solution for creating a safe and comfortable school building system,” he said.

Classroom of Hope’s next goal is to build a factory in Indonesia so that plastic waste can be collected from the local area – not from Finland – and processed locally.

With the help of an Indonesian branch of Block Solutions, Classroom of Hope can soon build other buildings, such as the homes of people whose homes were destroyed in the earthquake.

The recycled plastic school was built in Taman Sari village, Mataram District, Lombok, Indonesia.

Supplied: Fraser Morton

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