- Title: Palestinian students recycle waste into artificial stone
- Date: 23rd July 2017
- Summary: HEBRON, WEST BANK (RECENT) (REUTERS) CIVIL ENGINEERING GRADUATE OF PALESTINE POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY, TASNEEM AL-ASHHAB, SCOOPING SAND INTO CONTAINER AL-ASHHAB TAKING SAND OVER TO HER COLLEAGUE, AREEN NASSER ADDIN SAND BEING POURING THROUGH A SIEVE INTO ANOTHER CONTAINER VARIOUS OF AL-ASHHAB ADDING BUILDING MATERIAL INTO CONTAINER AL-ASHHAB HOLDING BAG WITH STONES NASSER ADDIN PUTTING STONES TO CONTAINER AL-ASHHAB ADDING BUILDING MATERIAL VARIOUS OF AL-ASHHAB MIXING MATERIALS IN CONTAINER (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) CIVIL ENGINEERING GRADUATE OF PALESTINE POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY, TASNEEM AL-ASHHAB, SAYING: "The demand for natural (building) stone is increasing and the market is no longer able to meet the demand for natural stone, so we had to find an alternative to natural stone that is similar to it and has the same physical features, the same shape. So the idea of artificial stone came up. We also considered the environmental problems. Waste is increasing in the environment and has a negative effect on the environment in all aspects; soil, water, air, it affects us as humans, as well as animals and plants. This is where the idea of the project came from: that we had to focus on the two problems and solve the two problems with one solution." WOOD SHAVINGS UNIVERSITY GRADUATES MIXING MATERIAL WITH WOOD SHAVINGS UNIVERSITY GRADUATES ADDING WATER TO MIX VARIOUS OF GRADUATE BRUSHING MOULD WITH NON-STICK LIQUID GRADUATES PUTTING MIX IN MOULD AL-ASHHAB SMOOTHING MIX IN MOULD (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING GRADUATE OF PALESTINE POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY, AREEN NASSER ADDIN, SAYING: "The problems that we had were simple, anyone can overcome them. Especially as we study different subjects, environmental technology engineering and civil engineering. The idea was to merge the two subjects and the university would adopt the project. So we overcame the problems and reached this (result)." HANDS PUTTING LABELS ON MIX FEET OF GRADUATE PUTTING MOULD WITH MIX ON GROUND GRADUATE BRINGING DRIED MIX VARIOUS OF GRADUATE UNLOCKING FRAME, GETTING STONES OUT GRADUATES WEIGHING STONES, TAKING NOTES VARIOUS OF PRESIDENT OF PALESTINE POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY, IMAD AL-KHATIB, CHECKING STONES AND SPEAKING TO GRADUATES (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PRESIDENT OF PALESTINE POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY, IMAD AL-KHATIB, SAYING: "What the two students did was that they created a new way to mix different materials and produce artificial stone of a high quality which competes with stone that is being quarried, and this helped in reducing the amount of hard waste." GRADUATE PUTTING STONE INTO PRESSURE MACHINE PRESSURE METER RISING AND FALLING STONE BREAKING GRADUATE PULLING STONE OUT GRADUATE HOLDING BROKEN STONE STONES AND MATERIAL AT SCENE EXTERIOR OF UNIVERSITY
- Embargoed: 6th August 2017 11:13
- Keywords: Palestinian university graduates recycling quarry waste artificial stone building material
- Location: HEBRON, WEST BANK
- City: HEBRON, WEST BANK
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Topics: Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA0016QXS02D
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Two Palestinian students have created an environmentally friendly building material to rival natural stone in an area famous for its quarries.
The West Bank city of Hebron is close to some 220 stone factories and 350 quarries, but they struggle to keep up with demand and have a serious impact on the environment.
The young women engineers took the challenge and made it their graduate project - producing artificial building stone from a mixture of stone waste and wood shavings.
"We had to find an alternative to natural stone that is similar to it and has the same physical features, the same shape," said Tasneem Al-ashhab, a civil engineering graduate from the Palestine Polytechnic University.
By using stone waste that might otherwise pollute nature, the students tackled the two problems of a shortage of building materials and environmental damage.
"We had to focus on the two problems and solve the two problems with one solution," said Al-ashhab.
Her partner on the project, Areen Nasser Addin, brought her studies in environmental technology engineering to complement Al-ashhab's civil engineering expertise.
"The idea was to merge the two subjects and the university would adopt the project. So we overcame the problems and reached to this (the results)," Addin said.
In their laboratory, the engineers test their building blocks in a machine that measures the pressure they can take before crushing - ensuring the new material is safe to use in buildings.
"They created a new way to mix different materials and produce artificial stone of a high quality which competes with stone that is being quarried, and this helped in reducing the amount of hard waste," said Imad Al-Khatib, president of the university.
The students hope that manufacturers will adopt their project and market the new material for buildings beyond the laboratory. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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