ROOFTOP REVOLUTION - FINALIST
UKRAINE

Eastern Ukraine was a steel, coal and arms manufacturing centre for the former Soviet Union. One by one the factories have closed down. But here as in other parts of the former USSR, a new class of rich is emerging, and they want to build big homes that need a lot of roof tiles. The existing housing stock, meanwhile, is badly in need of refurbishment, since many houses are currently roofed with crumbling sheets of deadly asbestos. A pair of businessmen - Robert Tyldesley and Igor Cedric - have recently come up with a way to solve Ukraine's roofing problem. Their joint venture company, Britanica JV, is easing the pressure on landfill sites by making roof-tiles from recycled plastic. Coming up with the idea was the easy part. The real challenge was developing the manufacturing process. Mixed waste plastic is extremely difficult to recycle, since different plastics melt at different temperatures. But Cedric and Tyldesley were not put off by the conventional wisdom. They assembled a team of underemployed ex-military engineers and set them to work. Within a year, the researchers had hit upon the 'philosopher's stone' of recycling: a method for successfully producing large quantities of good quality plastic from mixed plastic waste. The product has proved ideal for making roof tiles: strong, light, durable and fully waterproof. The tiles are already being used throughout Ukraine. In the UK Marley Building Materials is impressed with the product and will be a big importer when they get building regulation approval.