A Melbourne-based company — Pure New World — has managed to turn toxic soil and plastics into bricks, which can then be used as construction materials and even serve as a potential replacement for concrete.

The stronger and cheaper concrete alternative consists of a new chemical polymer that has undergone testing and has been approved by two official laboratories — the University of Melbourne’s Advanced Protective Technologies Engineering Structures Research Group and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation.

The new chemical polymer is then combined with toxic plastic and soil, that have been contaminated with hydrocarbons, heavy metals or per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAs), and transformed into a hardened substance that is stronger and less likely to degrade compared to standard concrete.

Results from testing have also shown that the encapsulation polymer can properly contain these substances — hence it can also be viewed as a long-term storage or disposal solution for toxic waste.

Additionally, the material has surpassed the average requirements currently in place, which have been established by the US Department of Energy to stop the release of contaminants into the environment.

Many major corporations — BP, Coca-cola, Veolia, Visy and Amentum — have already expressed their interest in the material’s potential applications after Pure New World demonstrated how it worked in November 2023.

Considering the carbon footprint of concrete, the new material can potentially repurpose toxic substances and replace concrete altogether.

Pure New World is also looking at ways to use this encapsulating polymer as a solution to Fukushima’s nuclear waste problem.