Abstract:
This report outlines the utilization of wig wastes, human hair and wood sawdust in
production of UMUSATSI ceiling board to be used in construction industries. At present
human hair and wig wastes are determined as non-degradable substances as well as polluted
materials for environment that are obtainable in salons at cheap cost. Utilizing wig wastes,
human hair and wood sawdust as construction materials especially in production of
UMUSATSI ceiling board is one of a promising step towards a sustainable resources and
waste management. Human hair used as fiber reinforcement, reduces environmental pollution
along with board’s weakness in tension. In this study, naturally available human hair and wig
wastes were collected, cleaned and added to particle board. Performance of reinforced
sawdust board was investigated with addition of various percentages of human hair in the
mixture.
Waste wig fibers and human hair are often disposed of in their volume on landfills, thus
results into the heaviest environmental risks. Recycling and reusing them is a way by which
this challenge can be over came. In such way, we mixed them with sawdust and wood fix
glue to form a composite mix for UMUSATSI ceiling board production. It can be observed
that compressive strength and split tensile strength of the board was found maximum while
addition of human hair used in board considering as fiber material.
These waste wig fibers and human hair are supposed to overcome the challenges that the
existing Ceiling boards especially gypsum board faces including shearing, cracks, lack of
moisture and water resistance, resistance to tensile forces and low compressive strength. The
Sample preparation involved mixing wood fix glue, water, sawdust, human hair and waste
wig fibers.
The general outcome convinces that waste wig fibers and human hair showed promising
performance in ceiling boards to be developed in enhancing water and moisture permeability
resistance, cracks resistance, and promoting tensile strength in ceiling boards at an optimum
mix of 10% and 5% volume fraction respectively.
