Dave Hakkens is going into “do-it-yourself” mode for plastics recycling.
It's not just for a new hipster trend project. Instead, Hakkens has developed a way to grind and recycle plastics and reuse it to help local communities take advantage of what he sees as a valuable resource that is being wasted, or worse is littering beaches and neighborhoods.
“It's a precious material, lying around everywhere, for free,” Hakkens notes in a video about his DIY project. “We could turn this waste into something new.”
Hakkens even created a website, Precious Plastic, where anyone can download instructions on how to create their own small scale plastics recycling equipment using equipment and materials that are easy to find.
He developed the process in 2013 as a student at The Design Academy in the Netherlands.
“We'd love to see plastic getting recycled all over the world, so we shared the blueprints of these machines online,” he says.
The modular designs are created to be easy to upgrade or modify as needed, and allow everyone to recycle plastics as well as start a new business and clear up their neighborhood.
All he asks for the free downloads and video tutorials is that people help get the word out, so more people and communities can make their own machines, and help put used plastics back to work.