Precious Plastic is a global open-source initiative empowering communities to recycle their plastic waste locally.

Instead of relying on large-scale, often inefficient and environmentally damaging recycling plants, Precious Plastic provides the blueprints and know-how for individuals and groups to build their own small-scale recycling machines. A staggeringly small amount of plastic is recycled with most of it getting buried or burned while huge quantities of new plastic are produced.

Open Source

The Precious Plastic movement encourages a circular economy approach, reducing reliance on landfill and promoting sustainable practices. The organisation doesn’t manufacture or sell the machines directly. Instead, their website offers free, open-source designs for a range of machines, each designed to handle different stages of the plastic recycling process. These include:

• Shredder: Breaks down plastic waste into smaller pieces.
• Extruder: Melts and shapes shredded plastic into usable material.
• Injection Mould: Allows for the creation of new products from the recycled, shredded plastic.

While the designs are freely available, building the machines requires some technical skills and access to tools. However, the initiative’s focus on open-source design encourages collaboration and knowledge sharing within the Precious Plastic community. Users can find support, tutorials, and troubleshooting advice online and tap into a global network of plastic recyclers.

Sustainability Impact

The impact of Precious Plastic has many aspects including reducing landfill and burning of used materials, reducing transport costs and emissions and enabling local communities to take direct action to become more sustainable.

Reducing Landfill and Burning of Used Plastic

While the corporations, oil companies and recycling industry massage the figures to look better, a huge quantity of plastic is produced and most of it ends up being buried or burned. Find out more at https://www.breakfreefromplastic.org/

As well as using less plastic in the first place, reusing plastic products (like zero waste shops or upcycling) or recycling the plastic into more useful products directly reduces the environmental impact of plastic production and waste.

Reducing Transport Costs & Emissions

By enabling localised recycling, it reduces transportation costs and emissions associated with shipping plastic waste to distant processing facilities. By sharing machine designs, recycling machines can be made or bought locally instead of shipped across the country or world.

Enabling Local Communities

The Precious Plastic project empowers individuals and communities to take control of their waste management, fostering a sense of ownership and responsibility. The initiative also offers economic opportunities, enabling individuals to start small businesses using recycled plastic to create new products.

While the machines may not be as efficient as large-scale industrial counterparts, Precious Plastic promotes a different approach – one that prioritises community engagement, sustainability, and accessibility. It’s a testament to the power of open-source technology in tackling global environmental challenges. The initiative’s focus is not on perfect efficiency, but rather on empowering individuals and communities to make a tangible difference in the fight against plastic pollution.

Summary

The Precious Plastic initiative is a fantastic project, but not without its limitations. The recycling process requires purchase or construction of machinery, ongoing maintenance,  and dedicated time and effort to acquire and clean the raw materials to recycle. The quality of the recycled plastic may not always meet the standards of commercially produced materials.

Despite these challenges, Precious Plastic continues to inspire individuals and groups worldwide to reimagine the lifecycle of plastic and create a more sustainable future. Their open-source model promotes innovation and getting involved, cutting out inefficient, corrupt politicians and corporations and enabling us to drive change right now.