Cutting boards made from recycled plastic bottle caps

The cutting boards are made entirely from food-grade HDPE plastic and handcrafted

Spotted: Matt and Jonny, the UK-based siblings and content creators of Brothers Make, have designed an upcycled cutting board made from used plastic bottle tops.  

Matt, a design and technology secondary school teacher, and Jonny, a senior account manager at a marketing firm, started making things together in 2018 as a way of spending more quality time together which eventually led to launching a YouTube channel. 

After gaining traction, the brothers opened an online store selling products made using 100 per cent recycled waste plastic. The shop sells a variety of things, ranging from plant pots, coasters and coffee caddies to buttons, Māori Pendants and guitar picks.  

To ensure the chopping boards comply with safety standards, the brothers say that all the plastic that they receive is hand-sorted to ensure it is food-grade HDPE plastic and that there are no non-plastic contaminants left on the plastic. They then run the plastic through three sorting and cleaning cycles before being heated. They also said that they keep the heating process at around 140-160 degrees so that no fumes are introduced to the plastic or burning occurs.  

“The low melting temperature of HDPE means that this should not be used for anything hot, nor should it be used as a surface to rest hot saucepans on,” said the brothers to Core77. Moreover, it should not be cleaned in a dishwasher.  

Just like every other product offered in Brothers Make’s shop, each cutting board is unique in the array of blue and green swirled patterns that make up its design. The cutting boards are not currently available for purchase.  

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