DIY recycling machines create custom plastic products at home

Makers can now download Precious Plastics' open source designs for their modular upcycling machines.

Precious Plastic is trying to rid the world of its ubiquitous, abundant plastic waste by developing a set of recycling machines that are made locally and fully customizable. Built from readily available materials, blueprints for the machines can be downloaded for free as part of Precious Plastic’s online how-to kit.

The recycling machines are modular and have been created as open source designs. The online kits contain instruction videos, templates, tips and tricks and safety guides for working with plastic. The Precious Plastic team wants communities to take full advantage of the amount of available plastic waste by setting up local production lines and businesses. The recycled plastic can even be turned into the appropriate material for 3D printing, further extending the sustainability of the enterprise.

With so many projects, from tiles to denim and furniture, trying to clean up plastic pollution, does the real challenge lie in developing industrial scale, sustainable, alternative materials?