Precious - Plastic - Review (WIP)
– Work in progress –
How PreciousPlastic Works
At the highest level, there exists a ruling elite comprised of Sigolene, Dave Hakkens, and selected ‘Bazar Sellers’ who receive donations, grants, and other passive revenue streams while claiming credit for the majority of the work carried out by past volunteers and misled investors. People are being enticed through guilt-tripping (environmental concerns), ideology (Open source), empty promises, and bold claims, such as a vibrant community and a healthy ecosystem. As with many modern scams, it purports to provide solutions, plans, and machines to address problems like plastic waste while generating income from it.
The machines offered provide little to no educational value, are ineffective and unpredictable as well involve extremely high labor under often terrible and toxic conditions, producing low quality and low value items at high expense. Not only are grants and funds being exploited with exorbitant prices, but individuals and organizations in developing countries are also being taken advantage of. Although only 5-10% of the often young and misinformed targets remain active for an extended period, the ruling elite has managed to hijack the project’s infrastructure for their own agenda, imposing taxes and restrictions on everyone else. All other claims of ‘Open source’ as well ‘developing a platform’ lack substantial evidence. Questions and inconvenient competitors are banned and censored under bogus pretexts whenever it suits the ruling elite.
In summary, what once was a platform for like-minded individuals to discuss maker and open-source topics has now become a profit-driven venture for a select few. It has devolved into a tourist trap for ‘plastic recycling,’ plagued by corruption, manipulation, and the necessary authoritarian measures to cover it up, reminiscent of the dystopia depicted in “1984.” Fortunately, the self-serving communication, questionable methods, toxic atmosphere, and lack of credibility have limited the damage to the actual community. We estimate the damage, in terms of resources and time, to be in the hundreds of tons of metals and hundreds of years of people’s time. Individuals have reported losses in the six-figure range, and corruption has caused approximately 2-3 million euros in financial damages.
Given the destructive nature and apparent disinterest of those in power regarding the core subjects, it is difficult to ascertain their true motivations. However, it is clear that their focus is not on recycling, open-source initiatives, or empowering people to create sustainable alternatives from plastic waste. Considering the abuses and inaction, theories suggesting a cover-up operation (money laundering, drug trafficking, fund exploitation, deep-state sabotage) appear more plausible than the widely advertised “Open-Source Plastic Recycling Movement.” To date, there has been no effort to improve the project’s prospects, engage with the community, or address the short lifecycle of individuals involved.
The ‘Community’
Given the circumstances, and unsurprisingly for a modern cult driven mainly by hype, overbranding, … critics and dissenting opinions are often met with harassment and censorship and in some cases followed by slander and defamation. ‘Established community members’ behave more like wolf packs than parties interested in resolving conflicts and the problems at hand. Despite overwhelming evidence and poor designs, the community has made no effort to correct or extend the official documentation, nor have they shown any interest in damage control or the collective growth of knowledge. In all aspects, technology, community welfare, and knowledge, the project remains in the same poor state as on day one.
Newcomers are exposed to misleading claims and must endure a painful, disappointing, and costly process. After eight years of full-time effort to meet customer and user expectations, we are simply out of words. This could certainly be characterized as a sadistic and selfish attitude towards people in general. We corrected false and misleading claims through private messages in the hundreds over the last 6 years, on a daily basis. In some cases, they managed to spot us, followed by banning much like a witch hunt 
Marketplace “Bazar”
The “Bazar” has been manipulated from the beginning in favor of PreciousPlastic-HQ and their friends (Bazar sellers, also working ‘voluntarily’ as moderators). Vendors and stakeholders have no say and need to agree to always changing rules. Essential communication outside of the Bazar is prohibited, PreciousPlastic-HQ is reading client communication and used that information for pay-up or else blackmail, also resulting in account suspension without prior warning as we’ve seen with GBManufacturer right before Christmas, unable to comply with the extremely difficult new and imposed shipping and selling conditions.
In 2021, additional rules were implemented, seemingly favoring PreciousPlastic-HQ but detrimentally affecting vendors and buyers. This has added further complexity to the sales process. Critical elements like links and communication have been restricted even though knowing that product descriptions and communication have been key to past successes. Consequently, years of SEO and content efforts have been wiped from the web. Simultaneously, other significant vendors were removed abruptly or under dubious pretenses, while ‘friends’ have been put in top positions with exorbitantly priced, low-quality copies. This isn’t the first instance where the ‘marketplace’ has been exploited against the community, such as falsely claiming high fees and maintenance costs when, in reality, most of these tasks could have been handled inexpensively.
The damages caused by these methods did cost the community jobs, innovation and potential projects. In over five cases, and counting, resulted even in bankruptcy, forcing vendors to work under extreme and inhuman conditions to recoup their investments but also competing with these methods, at high risk.
Aside from frequent manipulation, offers from India, China, and other developing countries have disappeared, raising questions about the project’s true purpose. Radical exclusion of minorities have been seen also in other places as the map, nearly 300 legit entries censored.
Due to the destructive measures against users and investors, we recommend using Etsy or Shopify instead. Professional sources advised also staying unassociated with ‘PreciousPlastic’, and given the current situation, we concur. Be aware that trade and communication is controlled by ‘machine sellers’, mostly proprietary nor any involvement in Opensource, support or development. In no instance of their interference we could speak of a positive impact. Links, issues, and alternatives have been removed frequently. Raised concerns about the drastic and life-long consequences for machine builders, loss of warranty and support for their clients have been answered by the owner, “Dave Hakkens” with “It’s your own fault to build on our thin ice”, or the community manager “If you can’t handle the heat, it’s your problem”. On Discord we’ve seen comments involving “Russia’s genocide” to justify the takedown of a longer involved key vendor. And it didn’t stop there, ‘privileged machine sellers’ (‘MadPlastic’) recommended affected users to involve the court, going after the victims they created in the first place.
Considering that the ‘marketplace’ was funded by taxpayers, donations, and driven by community efforts, it’s shocking how many lives were knowingly and intentionally disrupted and damaged for the benefit of a few, using false justifications whilst introducing obstacles for anyone else.
The companies profiting from this methods : Citizen Scientific Workshop, Sustainable Design Studio, ‘Capi-Spain’, ‘Atelier Recycleurs Fous’ and ‘MadPlastic’ as well the so-called Headquarter, also acting as moderators, mainly silencing and censoring alternatives but also disrupting hundreds of fruitful discussions whenever possible, whilst profiteering also from so called ‘back door sales’, known on the mainpage as ‘StarterKits’. Also here, we don’t know of any noteworthy contribution or positive changes or additions throughout the last 4 years.
Academy
During the migration we’ve noticed dozens of misleading claims and incomplete and outdated information, perpetuating PreciousPlastic’s reputation as ‘cult’ even further. We would have certainly love to point users and customers to a central and credible knowledgebase. At the time of writing, the only credible and somewhat accurate information in this place is the table of plastic melting temperatures.
Fact-Checking
Opensource
The term ‘Opensource’ has primarily been used as a marketing strategy to attract like-minded volunteers who actually perform the essential work. None of the remaining beneficiaries have actively engaged in Opensource initiatives or possess the capabilities to sustain the designs or platform. Out of the 100+ individuals who were involved over the past six years, only one or two have remained active.
I conducted a thorough examination of every file and line of code that passed through the project (and still maintain it). Out of the 2GB of publicly known designs, only a few files could be subject to scaling or redesign. The storage, structure, and formats made it nearly impossible to implement collaborative improvements. Furthermore, any attempts to present updated designs or tooling were met with censorship, hit-and-run harassment by promoted and proprietary Bazaar sellers.
The enthusiastic and like minded camp however that frequently shared new ideas fully disappeared between 2020-2021 with the introduction of the elite, imposing commercial interests instead. Since then, only a few and mostly useless designs have been shared, behind paywalls. Not surprised since important updates but also imperial conversions have been kept back for profits as well.
If you’re looking for passionate nerds, you’re clearly out of luck here! ‘Plastic Recycling’ and related activities however involve many different trades, perfectly subject to Opensource based tooling and optimization, ranging from custom PID controllers, sorting robots, PCBs, adaptive Filament winders, 3D-Print firmware and many more problems to be solved. Till today, we’ve seen no involvement or support by the owners and their privileged beneficiaries (bazar sellers) at all.
2023 - Impact Report
As a maintainer and investor closely monitoring trends and workspaces on a daily basis, we cannot confirm any of these numbers. Requests for evidence have resulted in censorship and bans. In fact, 2022 and 2023 marked the project’s worst years. The only meaningful data may be the counts of workspaces per country. The 250 workspaces reported for UK also lack every evidence. The UK Facebook group is literally dead since 2 years. I know of around 10 active workspaces so far. However, upon closer examination of the map and scrutiny of their social accounts, it’s evident that most workspaces are inactive or produce low-value items sold on Etsy or the PreciousPlastic Bazaar. We have seen only a dozen of such items reported on PreciousPlastic’s Discord ‘activity-channel’.
For instance, the claim of 180 tons of recycled plastic in South Africa and Kenya lacks credibility, as these organizations use entirely different approaches and industrial grade machinery such as proper extruders and granulators. Once again, Precious Plastic Headquarters is using every mean to claim credit for unrelated project successes as their own.
Another concerning and inaccurate assertion is that brands like Adidas, Google, Samsung, Corona, Ikea, McDonald’s, Mini, Vodafone, DHL, and Toyota are utilizing Precious Plastic. The designs lack every necessary features & quality. To our knowledge, only a few vendors, operating outside of PreciousPlastic have managed to address professional requirements, using entirely different designs. Same here, questions about have been censored and resulted in banning, in spite details about might have been very interesting, to everyone involved.
Once again, investors, and even their own users are being mislead, rendering it into plain fraud, leaving sooner or later investors in bankruptcy. It’s individuals, not companies being victim of this methods.
[2023 Report]
Similar and not surprisingly, 350k in Bazar sales have been reported for 2023. Inspecting the data however confirms for not even 5% of this number. Questions about have been of course removed and the author banned.
CE
PreciousPlastic proclaims its designs are in alignment with CE standards, essential for the legal operation of workshops and securing appropriate insurance. However, closer inspection of these designs uncovers a series of issues and violations. Attempts to acquire the necessary documentation resulted in bans, while the so called elite persistently marketed and sold these products on the ‘Bazar’ and as ‘Starterkits’ on the project’s main page. We’re not surprised to see the alleged efforts being resold as part of the ‘PreciousPlastic Open-source Fund’. Plunging the community into a zone of legal uncertainty and grey areas is a common practice. The legal repercussions for users have been consistently minimized and ignored, coinciding with assertions that these designs are economical and accessible, often to the detriment and unforeseen expenses of the users. Please read more about in the ‘Machines’ section (price/value).
10k Discord users
Before 2020, when Discord was introduced, the forum had an impressive roster of 10,000 registered users. The arrival of Discord disrupted this vibrant community, degrading the project drastically, by reducing their ability to interact, contribute, or maintain articles. The changes have been introduced at the same time as new restrictions, and taxation of trade, by Mattia & Joseph Klatt, both with no prior background, relationship with users or the trade at hand. In return, out of the initial 10,000 members, only a handful remain active today. Senior and professional users experienced difficulty in navigating Discord, finding it challenging to engage meaningfully with content or establish connections, and finally left within the first months. The very shift turned the project into merely an update and advertising channel for PreciousPlastic, the company. Efforts were made to influence opinions and establish a display of authority by giving prominence to the beneficiaries and ‘Bazar’ sellers, who are also shown as ‘moderators’, 7 in total. Unfortunately, these very groups have shown little to no interest, passion or commitment, responding to user issues or suggestions, or the daily work or the project itself. The platform has not witnessed any substantial new code or content additions in years (we produce, accumulate and maintain Gigabytes, per month). Instead, the community is repeatedly addressing the same questions and issues with no apparent progress. Furthermore, users have been constantly exposed to screen filling logos, biased and misleading and/or incomplete advise. Critical viewpoints, alternatives and valuable suggestions have been either censored or ignored. For a subject of highly technical matter, we’re surprised to see not a single user with a related background engaging with the project. User content and relations has been and is being treated with the same attitude and absence of respect as all other key aspects. The last pro active Opensource moderator left 6 years (thank you Oliver, at least there was one!)
Create a business from waste
After providing extensive support over four years, totaling hundreds of hours, we find little to no credible evidence to support the claims made by PreciousPlastic. Most attempts have proven unsuccessful, leading to a widespread view that this initiative is more akin to a hobby than a professional endeavor. Despite this, PreciousPlastic continues to promote itself as a ‘solution to tackle plastic pollution’, often employing selective reporting and sensationalism, including instances of adolescents working in unhealthy conditions or injured soldiers being used for marketing. However, most projects rely on grants, donations, and public funding.
Regarding ‘machine builders’, this aspect also falls short of expectations. It is a demanding and risky venture, operating in a legal gray area, and often faces competition from what some describe as the unfairly advantaged ‘elite’ in this field.
Feedback about the proposed ‘workspace model’ (collect, shredding, extrude, …), and all obvious short comings have been answered with inaction, censorship and even amusement by the ruling elite. The project has been left in a state of disarray, with no clear direction or purpose, and no apparent progress. Users are being mislead and exposed to a vague outcome. A user commented this with “it’s a coming and going, nobody stays long - don’t get to close”.
Criminal and ethical offenses
In the past six years, we’ve witnessed a wide range of unethical actions including defamation, brainwashing, indoctrination, slander, unfair competition, nepotism, coercive tactics, privacy violations, bullying, hit-and-run bans, pay-or-else schemes and extensive censorship of differing opinions and options, including downplaying issues. It’s not surprising to see manipulated numbers and statistics used to attract largely uninformed users, often to the detriment of the community and investors. This approach also extends to the handling of user-generated content and contacts. Despite criticism, the company ‘PreciousPlastic’ demonstrates considerable ingenuity in maintaining its current course, putting users at risk knowingly and wilfully, as business model.
Ultimately, ‘PreciousPlastic’, also known as ‘realpreciousplastic’, could be characterized as a company that pursues profits aggressively, exploiting volunteer efforts and donations, earning on other people’s misfortune. This approach often places individuals and investors in frequent risky situations, reflecting a disregard for responsibility and community welfare.
A few quotes
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“We didn’t expect anyone to take this serious” (Dave Hakkens, Mattia)
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About machine issues: “We hear that all the time” (Dave Hakkens)
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“You will be treated accordingly” (Rory - Sustainable Design Studio) after obtaining private messages from another Discord server
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After tricking out key contributors: “It’s your own fault to build on our thin ice” (Dave Hakkens)
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Volunteers, turning their back, at the gates of the v4 project: “We don’t want to participate in a cult”
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A moderator (and bazar seller) to a contributor, after posting a link to a peer project: “it won’t be good for you to support them” (CitizenScientificWorkshop)
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“You are not allowed to give any support” (Dave Hakkens)
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After mentioning alternative ways to publish knowledge on Discord, other than their platform: “nobody asked for, once again and you will be banned” ( Dave Hakkens, as in every technical matter, banning or censorship)
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About new the Bazar restrictions: “Like with Uber, they are also not allowed to exchange details” (Joseph Klatt)
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Professional users, visiting v4 in Eindhoven: “It was like waiting for an audition with the king …”
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After privacy violations: “This is a business!” ( Dave Hakkens )
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“We don’t like how they treat the community” ( Taller Esferica )
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“We are tired of all that. We don’t know how we ever get out of that” (Anonymous)
The ‘machines’
After extensive testing, building, redesigning, and fixing nearly a hundred models, we conclude that none of the known versions are recommendable, with the possible exception of the v3 extruder for hobbyists. We’ve witnessed numerous instances where initial investments, often in the 5-6 digit range, evaporated due to bankruptcy, leaving only a fraction of the value. Material costs, initially a few hundred Euros per design, escalated to 10-20 times that amount. Be wary of expensive items on the Bazar, as top brands tend to sell these machines at exorbitant prices. To date, we’ve observed little to no reinvestment in the community or their own portfolios.
Shredders
The ‘basic shredder’ (v3)
Marketed as the ‘backbone’ of accessibility (180 Euro) and simplicity, the reality is that it costs between 2000 - 3000 Euros to build properly, in compliance with workshop regulations. Feedback is mostly ‘disappointing’, particularly due to its cutting diameter leading to frequent jamming. The required 3kW power has been reduced to 1.5 kW by major suppliers since 2021. However, the design is unstable, ineffective and unsafe, requiring the operator to push objects into the chamber. Knives, even when made of harder materials like stainless steel or Hardox, wear out quickly. Given the risks and poor price/value ratio, we advise buying a second-hand grinder at a fraction of the cost on Ebay or other machine trader outlets.
Alternatively, consider the mini version at OSR - Shredder - v3.1 Light. It doesn’t need a motor and operates smoothly with minimal effort.
In most cases, collecting, cleaning, and shredding can and should be avoided due to the tedious and excessive labor involved. Check GoogleMaps for local plastic suppliers. Average prices are around 500-700 Euros per metric ton.
To avoid:
- Hand-cranked dual axis shredders
- Hand-cranked v3.x shredders
- Oversized v3.x shredders
The ‘pro’ version (v4)
This model has proven problematic in several aspects and is very costly (up to 10,000 Euros). Avoid building or purchasing it at all costs.
- Unstable chamber, unsuitable for the necessary 3kW - 4kW power
- Difficult and dangerous to clean or assemble
- Challenging to operate
- Time-consuming and complex to build, requiring lifting equipment
- Mesh (screen) can easily damage the shredder due to congestion
- Steel and even Hardox blades deteriorate rapidly
- Not suitable for professional use
- Plastic often gets trapped between blades, increasing friction significantly
- Inadequate structure/framework
- Claims of CE conformity are unsubstantiated, as with all other machines
We recommend not building or purchasing this model. For a similar price, you can acquire a secondhand grinder and a new shredder instead.
Injectors
The very design has been praised for its simplicity and low cost. Feedback unveiled later complications and safety issues. Even commercial and further developed designs have proven unsuited for commercial or professional activities.
Extruders
The ‘basic’ version (v3) when done properly are suited to produce baskets, art objects and beams. The claim of producing ‘filament’ however had to be corrected hundreds of times. Material fees, including commercial grade options vary from 500 - 1500 Euros.
The ‘pro’ version can escalate quickly up to 10000 Euros whilst adding little no significant performance or durability benefits. Material bill varies from 1500 - 3000 Euros. Most offers use a mild steel barrel prone to wear out, easily to damaged with a tiny piece of metal debris.
Both designs are unsuited for professional activities. A proper extruder can be found often for a fraction of the price on second hand machine trader places.
Buying tips:
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v3 extruder: should have thrust bearings, and at least 1.5kW motor power
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v4 extruder: barrel needs to be in hardened materials, and preferably a 3-4kW motor power
Sheetpress
There have been various issues reported about the sheetpress:
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This machine requires precision machining (cartridge heaters, rails, frame)
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Structural issues, creating uneven pressure across the press plates, resulting in uneven thickness
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Expensive to build. Realistic costs to build it in an acceptable quality are somewhere at 6000 - 10000 Euro. 15000 Euro with all features and safety measures.
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Issues with heat distribution, resulting in warped sheets
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Inefficient heating
Our recommendation: please wait for a better design but also better documentation
Conclusions
PreciousPlastic has been mostly a very disappointing and costly experience, for many. It’s been kept financial instrument, and at comfortable levels of the ruling owners and a few selected profiteers, in all aspects (knowledge, trade and networking). It targets and exploits specifically uninformed people, for profits. Till today we haven’t seen a single effort to improve the situation or lower damages, and even support the community. After all, we experienced it as one of the most toxic and violent places and projects throughout 30 years working similar projects and contexts. It fails to address real-world needs, as recycling, craftsmanship and education.
Innovation, communication, knowledge and networking has been systematically undermined and sabotaged whenever possible. We have seen people who lost invests up to 6 digit figures, and many years of work.
The Profiteers
MadPlastic (Portugal). In all the years, Yann and Carolina profiteered most from backdoor sales - known as 'starterkits - often sold to Africa NGOs whilst inconvenient competitors have been removed from the marketplace or faced harsh restrictions and imposed taxes (By Joseph Klatt, Dave Hakkens, Mattia and the current Bazar manager Sigolene). In all instances of community reported issues and recommendations, no effort has been done to lower damages and risks for users, on the contrary. Madplastic incorporated instead previous designs from ‘banned’ competitors with no credits or whatsoever.
Sustainable Design Studio (UK). As with most v4 team members, Rory is acting also as ‘moderator’, using the project’s communication portal ‘Discord’ primarily as advertising billboard. The only and last noteworthy Opensource contribution dates 4 years back, the ‘brick’, leaving the user as most PreciousPlastic’s designs with disappointment and issues resolved by the community. Additional follow-up work as missing CAD files have been censored and the user banned. We’ve seen nothing but bold claims as ‘designed from scratch’, ‘270+ machines built’ as well a high number of workspaces reported for the UK, apparently to back up the ‘The impact is all what matters’ report debunked above.
Citizen Scientific Workshop (United States) Dave entered the scene around 6 years ago. No Opensource contributions or whatsoever but plenty of massive censorship, false claims, slander and bullying actual Opensource contributors. He enjoys moderator privileges not just on the main Discord server, but also USA server as well the Facebook group. In all instances we have seen nothing but destruction, content and relations. Same as with the others, ridiculous overpriced and immature machines, obviously designed for maximum profits.
