FAQ
Frequently asked questions
💬 General
What is open source?
"Open source" refers to something that people can modify and share - its contents are "open". The term comes from the software industry where open source referred to the source code being open but now can apply to products, research, design, just about anything that can be collaborative!
What is the aim of Precious Plastic?
The aim of Precious Plastic is to provide a global solution to the plastic waste problem. We provide machine plans, product designs, knowledge on plastic and the industry, business models and a full ecosystem that can be adopted by anyone that wants to take the problem into their own hands. Everything we learn and publish online is free and open for anyone to use and modify.
How can I contribute?
We'd love you to join our community and become part of the Precious Plastic Universe. Check out the Universe Explained in the Academy. If you'd like to contribute to us financially, you can become a Patreon or visit our support page to find another way to help.
The forums are dead?! Where can I ask more detailed questions about specific How-To's and the Academy?
Our Discord is even better than the forums! Check out the Discord channels on the Chat section of the Academy. It's juicy!
⚙️ Machines
Do you sell the machines?
No. We do not sell machines. We prefer that people build them locally or hire a machine shop. Just to make it clear, WE DO NOT SELL MACHINES :)
Where can I buy the machines?
You can buy machines or parts on our Bazar or collaborate with machine shops on our Map. Make sure to buy from someone around you to reduce delivery carbon emissions. Check out the Map on our community platform, or the Bazar to see what's available locally.
Can I build the machines and sell them?
Yes, we would love that. The more people recycling, the better. The profit is all yours my friend!
Are the machines safe to work with?
If you make them properly according to our drawings it should be ok. Overall they are safe to work with. However a machine like the shredder can do quite some damage. But you can always customize the machines and make them more safe. Either way, please always watch out!
What are the requirements? (Space, tools/equipment, money, time, people)
It's different for every machine, the best place to find this information is in the Build section of the Academy. Good luck!
What’s the output? (kg per hour/ min or max size)
It's different for every machine, the best place to find this information is in the Build section of the Academy. Good luck!
How much energy do the machines consume?
You can find all the output technical details on the starterkit pages of our website.
🥤 Plastics
What is plastic?
See the Plastic section in the Academy.
Can I use all plastic types in Precious Plastic machines?
Nope. We usually recommend HDPE (#2), PP (#5), and PS (#6) as the plastic types that work best in the Precious Plastic machines. Ask around the community about other types.
Is it dangerous to work with plastic?
It's not overly dangerous to work with plastic as long as you follow the proper precautions. However, different plastic types have different requirements. Refer to the Safety and Fumes section of the Academy.
Do you have any solutions for styrofoam?
We don't have any great answers for dealing with styrofoam, but here's some research we did as part of Precious Plastic version 4.
How about solutions for PET?
PET is a tricky one. Not recommended for the Precious Plastic machines. We've had some success with PET rope that you might want to try out.
How can we deal with Ocean plastic? (UV degradation, etc)
In 2019 we had a team of Precious Plastic volunteers in the Maldives to research ocean plastic. Check out what they learned.
Can you recycle PVC?
PVC is one of the most dangerous plastics to recycle because of harmful fumes. Please don't try to recycle it in the Precious Plastic machines.
How do I know what type of plastic something is?
Hopefully the piece of plastic you're referring to is marked with a number from 1-7. If it is, hooray! You can easily search online or check out our Basics of Plastic section where go into more detail. If it's not marked, it's a little more difficult. There are techniques such as density testing, infrared testing and burn testing. You can also get to know more about what kinds of plastic are used for common products (for example, chemicals are often stored in HDPE bottles). You can learn about all these topics in the Nerdy on Plastic in the Academy.
How many times can you reuse plastic?
Plastic is a pretty strong material, and as long as it's sorted and cleaned properly, in theory it could be recycled many times. Depends on the plastic type, but industry says it's usually around 10 times. But the point is to make long-lasting items to firstly keep it out of our earth/ocean/atmosphere but also to reduce the energy and time needed to make it into another product.
👨👩👦👦 Community
How do I find people in my local area?
Use the Map on the community platform to find people around you!
How can I get involved?
We'd love you to join our community and become part of the Precious Plastic Universe. Check out the Universe Explained in the Academy. If you'd like to contribute to us financially, you can support us on Patreon.
If I create a workshop, am I allowed to use the Precious Plastic name? If yes, what are the conditions?
Yes you are! Check out the branding and style guidelines in the Academy under Style guides.
🏓 Products
Where can we buy products?
You can purchase products from the Precious Plastic community on the Bazar.
Do you sell products?
No, we don't sell products.
Can you make products for me?
No, we can't make products for you. But there are plenty of people that can! Use the Map to find a workspace that you can talk to about making your product.
👩💻 Platform
I’ve forgotten my password, login, or both!
If you've forgotten your password, you can use the "forgot password" link on sign up.
How do you approve workspaces/collection points?
We have a small team that will review each new workspace or collection point to make sure they meet the requirements needed to operate within the Precious Plastic universe. This means we can ensure these integral parts of the community are active.
🏓 About the project
Who is behind this project?
Dave Hakkens started Precious Plastic as part of his graduation project in 2012. We've been almost exclusively run by volunteers for the last six years. Check out our team page for each version here.
When did this project begin?
Dave started working on Precious Plastic as part of his graduation project in 2012.
Why did you start?
After doing some traveling and just seeing the huge amount of plastic waste around, Dave thought we needed small scale solutions to recycle plastic so people could take matters into their own hands.
Why are you sharing it for free?
Because we believe that opening up knowledge for free is the fastest way to build effective solutions. Bottom up, grassroots, and community driven.
Creative commons, copyright and open source?
Check out our open source section for more information. Basically everything we do is open source and you are free to use it! We have a creative commons public license to help protect all of our designs, blueprints, etc.
Do you make money with this project?
We are funded through a combination of grants, awards, donations, and the Bazar fees. Sometimes we do event workshops, small production runs, help organizations setup a workspace, or other fun projects that we get funding for.
💬 Contact
I'm stuck with something. Can I contact you to ask you a question?
The Discord channels are the best places to ask questions and the community is great at answering! A full list of the channels can be found in the Chat section of the Academy. If you're a Patreon supporter you can head to the Patreon Helpdesk on Discord.
I'm interested in funding/donating to your project.
Well we'd love to talk to you! Please visit our support[https://support.preciousplastic.com] page and find out how you can help.