Atlas Supplies Recycled-Plastic Trusses for 40-Foot Army Corps Bridge

2 articles · Updated · MIT News · Sep 14

Atlas Building Composites delivered American-made recycled composite trusses for a 40-foot bridge the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers installed in a Massachusetts wetland in less than a day.
The MIT spinout says its AI-driven, waterless manufacturing platform turns single-use plastic into structural parts for foundations, decks, and wall, floor, and roof trusses.
MIT research behind the system showed large trusses can be printed in under 13 minutes, support more than 4,000 pounds, and be produced at 60 to 80 pounds per hour; Atlas says factory systems target 150 to 200.
Each Atlas factory cell can produce framing for about one small home per day, supporting the founders' plan to deploy localized production systems globally rather than rely on centralized mega-factories.
Atlas says the model could help tackle 8 gigatons of accumulated plastic waste while advancing its longer-term goal of enabling 1 billion homes.