Precious Plastic
= DIY, open-source, small scale plastic workshop that can globally scale
URL = http://www.preciousplastic.com/
Description
1.
"Commercial recycling operations are great, but often the applications for recycled materials, especially plastics, are limited. So Design Academy Eindhoven graduate Dave Hakkens recently showcased a series of open source machines he’s developed for repurposing waste plastics into new and useful things. Now anyone can build a local micro-recycling centre to service their (and their communities?) needs."
(http://www.shareable.net/blog/10-open-hardware-projects-to-save-the-earth)
2.
"This project is a set of plastic machines, developed to set up a small scale plastic workshop. The machinery is based on general industrial techniques, but designed to build yourself. The machine is easy to use and made to work with recycled plastic. Whilst this entire project is still in development, the machines are shared open source online and improved by the community."
The Plan:
"Our plan
A plan that will allow people, anywhere in the world to transform plastic waste into valuable things.
1. Develop Machines
For the past two years we have been developing machines to recycle plastic waste, locally.
2. Share, for free
The machines are developed using basic tools and materials. We share all the blueprints open source online. This way people around the world can re-build them.
3. Spread the know-how
In order to build these machines people need to know that the blueprints are available. We need to spread the know-how in every corner of the world.
4. Create
Once the machines are build people can start experimenting, creating and producing new products from their local plastic waste.
5. Clean up
The primary goal is to recycle as much plastic as we possibly can. This would clean up our shared environment, improve living conditions and possibly create financial value!
6. Community
An important aspect of the project is to create a world wide community of like-minded plastic savers. People working for a cleaner future, sharing knowledge, helping each other and collaborating."
(http://preciousplastic.com/plan/)
Status
Paul Spinrad:
"A worldwide network of microrecyclers is turning local plastic waste into commercial products, while building community and expertise. The 10-year-old Precious Plastic movement encompasses hundreds of workspaces, ranging from Precious Plastic Gambia, which culls plastic pollution from tropical beaches in Africa, to Yukon Plastics, which commercializes waste plastic donated by businesses in northern Canada. One affiliate, Robries in Indonesia, has 20 full-time employees and serves clients worldwide. That’s not local, it’s true, but it’s still cool.
These recycled plastic businesses are generally more viable as primary sources of income in lower-income countries, and are money-making hobbies in pricier areas, but the shared innovation over DIY plastic recycling crosses all borders, and Precious Plastic shops in all sorts of countries are assisted by grants for economic development, environmental protection, hands-on education, and other good causes.
The basic equipment that the Precious Plastic shops use— shredders, presses, extruders, injection molders— are all open-source designs that the global community builds, improves on, and shares, although some locations also use commercial equipment. Products that the shops make and sell range from buttons, combs, and flowerpots to bricks, beams, and large sheets used in furniture and construction."
(https://mainstreetjournal.substack.com/p/plastic-microrecycling-goes-viral)
Example
Paul Spinrad:
"My local shop, Peninsula Precious Plastics, was started by David Schick (the primary source for this piece) and his wife and son. It’s a happening place. Among other things, it’s where a local designer shreds prescription pill bottles and molds them into Cocoplum sunglasses frames, and where an 8th grader recently started turning broken, discarded pickleballs into dry-erase boards favored by her A.P. Environmental Sciences teacher. The location also collects plastic from and hosts groups from ServiceNow, which supports Precious Plastic shops located near its four main offices, as a way to give back to their communities.
The Peninsula shop’s setup includes several open-source machines, plus a commercial granulator, flatbed CNC, and a cold press that makes sheets smoother and uniform after they come out of the hot press. For safety (and convenience), they also have HEPA fume extractors, a downdraft table, masks, and a PlasTell spectroscope that identifies types of plastic without your having to test what temperatures they melt and smoke at. To minimize creating microplastics, they only use blades and planes to remove excess plastic, never files or sandpaper.
Precious Plastic’s origin story starts with Dutch industrial designer Dave Hakkens, who learned how little plastic is recycled, and that it’s only done at an industrial scale. He started trying to create smaller machines that anyone, anywhere could build in order to turn waste plastic into a useful and valuable resource, and some engineers joined the effort. They published and promoted their open-source designs, supported them with how-to information and online community tools, and Precious Plastic shops have been sprouting up ever since.
Last month, Hakkens announced the Precious Plastic v5 effort to expand in several ways, including by developing a plastic credits system similar to how carbon credits currently work. Backed by standards and a verification trust chain, such a market would let small plastic recyclers label their products with statements like “This product offsets 3.7 kg of new plastic” while earning additional income from foundations, government agencies, or companies that want to buy recycled plastic offsets. The v5 expansion also includes plans to research viable substitutes for plastic, such as mushroom-, seaweed-, and bamboo-based materials."
((https://mainstreetjournal.substack.com/p/plastic-microrecycling-goes-viral))