Boards of a feather stick together
A new composite building board made of chicken feathers could be a major breakthrough for the construction industry in Asia, a Filipino scientist says.
The new material would be resistant to the region's armies of termites and could also solve a major environment problem in the Philippines by providing a way to dispose of millions of kilograms of waste feathers each year.
The research done by University of the Philippines Los Banos associate professor Menandro Acda, of the College of Forestry and Natural Resources, is being heralded as economically and environmentally sound.
Acda says the material, made of compressed cement and chicken feathers, could be widely used for housing, replacing boards now made with wood chips, which are easily ruined by hungry insects.
The composite boards are "resistant to insect infestation such as termites because the feathers are inedible," Acda says.
"They are also not as flammable or combustible as conventional cement and wood-fibre composite boards," he says.
Although more research needs to be done, Acda says the feather boards could be used for panelling, ceilings and as insulation.
However it will not replace weight-bearing building components like walls or pillars.
The researcher says his work would also solve the significant problem of disposing of the 2.4 million tonnes of feathers produced each year by the Philippines poultry industry, while doing less damage to the environment.
"Conventional waste disposal methods, when applied to chicken feathers, are problematic," he says, referring to burning, burial or recycling the feathers for use in low-quality animal feeds.
"Incineration releases greenhouse gases and the feathers take up a lot of space in landfills and take a long time to decay because of the keratin protein that makes up the feathers.
"There is also the fear of bird flu, which makes converting chicken feathers into animal feeds undesirable."
Acda is hoping to perfect his feather board by year's end, at which point he will publish his findings.
The research is funded by the Ford Conservation and Environmental Grants program.