In the last great fire of 2014 that affected Valparaíso, numerous building and structural deficiencies about slope construction were found. This issue was a significant factor in the number of homes destroyed. Then, the motivation arises to develop inexpensive retaining wall technologies, structurally validated, that can be implemented by people without greater technical knowledge. In parallel, Chile has a fleet close to 5,000,000 vehicles (INE, 2017). This means a potential replacement of 20,000,000 tires in 4 or 5 years, transforming them into an abundant and environmentally persistent volumetric residue, which accumulates especially in the gorges of Valparaíso. In this context, and as the first objective of this research, we identify the opportunity to contain landfills with recycled tire structures. In the present work, a vision about the state of international, national and local art about retaining wall with tires is shown and examples are presented. Then, exploratory proposals are developed, which finally settle in a definitive proposal of a retaining wall with mechanically stabilized tires. This proposal was submitted to structural calculation according to current engineering criteria, to lastly recommend it as a valid option for containing a horizontal plane with satisfactory building standards.

This article introduces a novel approach for repurposing Tetra-Pak® residues as raw materials for the manufacturing of insulating panels for dwelling frameworks. This new development is intended as affordable insulation systems for emergency and permanent social housing. The three proposed panels were designed, manufactured, and tested, and showed similar or better thermal properties than traditional insulators available in the local market. To benchmark the design embodiments, custom apparatuses and dedicated sensing instruments were also developed.