Hello everyone; first of all sorry for the re-post of some of the photos you will see on this thread; indeed i have been poking here & there putting some photos & designs, but hadn’t created a “real” thread yet; Here it goes !
It has now been a bit more than a month now that my crew (i own a business in events organization since many years) and myself have started thinking hard on what we could do with plastic waste. The first axe we explored was the plastic differenciation. We emptied all the trashbags that were ready to be picked up and sorted the plastic trash by type in seperated boxes (which are made out of PS…)
(EDIT : Photo uploads NOT WORKING) :((
(EDIT EDIT : Photo uploads WORKS AGAIN, YAAAY !! )
At the same time we started to work on LLDPE from Pallet Wrap ; the technique used was similar to the bag-fusing technique but has the awesome advantage of not needing to do any sewing ; everything is done with the help of an iron & baking paper. We managed to VERY easily create simple BUT resistant bags which replaced our PS sorting boxes.
Expanding that idea, we created backpacks and other types of bags that we use on a daily basis (to go shopping, or pick up litter while walking dog) and made a Precious Plastic Flag using Pallet Wrap & TrashBags
I also like the idea of an (almost) no investment way to start.
Safety gear and safety instruction, starters tutorial, (old) oven and go go go.
I’m still gathering information, so i don’t have much to tell yet, but I will also start a ‘journal’ soon, starting with a tutorial on how and why to keep a journal on PP (link t.b.a. )
The forum has a very limited structure, which would just mean we should use it in a smarter way!
I wonder: “i would have changed the name of the topic… …but i can’t cuz name of topic links to the url”. This is indeed a good observation as the links might stop working, but I will test and check. You CAN change the name, so links SHOULD keep working. I think only the name changes, not the link, but let’s not find out I’m wrong by experimenting on an active topic
Thanks for your feedback ! i was not aware there were other french initiatives when i created the post, i would have changed the name of the topic to pp-sartrouville which is the name of my workshop, but i can’t cuz name of topic links to the url (?)
Indeed, most of the research and experiments were done without PP machines, i think it is very important to understand how different plastics “work” in order to utilize the PP machines at their best (and optionnally understand how to not brake the machines ie: extrusion machine’s motor being turned on before the plastic in the “temp zone” is not melted :p)
Will try to continue this as a journal to open new techniques and possibilities through plastic recycling !
I think everybody starting (including me) would do well to start working without the machines like you did, if only to get to know the materials (plastics) better.
You should rename this topic ‘So you want to start recycling plastics’
It’s basically a tutorial with some very usefull tips and information.
Good day! Im from the Philippines and I’am currently doing my thesis project same as yours. Thank you for publishing your work it would help me a lot in doing my own compression machine. By any chance, have you done or do you have an Experimental Design for the tests you’ve done so far? Thanks!
Hello @edwardmartinhill !
Thanks for your interest ! I baught the mould already laser cut, and indeed dimensions are not specified. I measured out mine once assembled and here are the following dimensions
So the mould is in 2 parts, hope the quickly edited photos will help you out
Hi, I love following your work. Are you bale to share with me the dimensions of the mould for the bowl? I have downloaded the .dwg files from PP but I cannot see the dimensions.
Hello everyone; wow time goes by so quickly, already 4 months since my last update !
First things first, we finally managed to build the schredder !!! *HURRAY* (thanks to the help of a precious handyman!) unfortunately, it didn’t last long as the jawcoupler broke when trying to schred a PET bottle (waiting for a 500N/m coupler to arrive and make the beast work again !)
here is a mini video of it running for a couple secs https://youtu.be/yGDDfLzTt0U
We also purchased through Precious Plastic official the laser cut parts for the compression bowl mould and assembled/welded it !
It is only when u start using it that you realize the importance of finishing the mould, as it will lesser the post-production work on the moulded product.
Eventhough are mould wasn’t perfect we started trying it out and the umoulading was VERY difficult; so we used this magical unmoulading wax and here is the result !
Julieta (who i work with) had the nice idea to use them as little planters
(eventhough the plastic used in the first place is foodsafe _plastic HDPE caps_ food contact product is in my opinion a no-go; cuz of the different additives and all; it feels too risky…)
I promise @brendonscrimgeour i will be doing a video very VERY soon! Once the mould is ready ready ready ! (already started to fill out the “make a video” template from the download kit)
hey all; didn’t have enough PET to do a full compression; so i was able to take photos showing the colour change of PET while getting back to solid form
hey @camento !
here are the photos as promised; as you can see the system isn’t very sophisticated yet !
to answer your last question : i don’t have extrusion machine or injection machine so i’m not the best person to answer you. But since you need to preheat the PET in order to dehydrate it, i think only compression is doable while maintaining (more or less) the PET properties.
But since it’s the only (from the big 6) plastic which needs some preheat, you can recycle other types much easier (i suppose) with extrusion & injection.
Hope i answered u well
Peace !
Photo #1 : oven + compression chamber
photo #2 : heat resistant gloves (which are starting to plastify, need to change them), gas mask
photo #3 one of the teflon coated dishes i use to make the plastic melt, and MUCH needed spoons
photo #4 one of the wooden moulds we use
Good day!
Sir, I’m planning to build an extrusion machine with molder. is it practical or ok to use PET bottle as my input? or should i use injection machine? TIA
)
