Sahrawi engineer Tateh Lehbib Breica used discarded plastic bottles packed with sand instead of conventional bricks, along with other materials, to construct a house for his grandmother. He had grown up in the Awserd refugee camp near Tindouf and later earned a master's degree in energy efficiency. His idea emerged after severe flooding had damaged homes in the camps and after he found himself with a large supply of discarded bottles that had originally been intended for a roof garden. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) , he remembered a documentary about building with plastic bottles and decided to try the approach himself.
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