Precious Plastic USA

Hi there! Tim from Toledo. Looking to/planning on building the injection molder to complement my 3d printing and cnc machine.

@Atrus hey Tim, Noah from Akron area here. I am also in the pre-pre-pre-planning 'this is a cool idea' phase. I'm interested in building the shredder & collecting locally to start.

@n_sweep I'm in the Cleveland area!

Hello @n_sweep and @Sarjo I am also from Akron and in the pre-planning/fundraising stage

@Atrus do you know what type of plastic you will use for the injection and where you will source it? Maybe we can build a northern Ohio network

Hey guys, that's great to hear there are more people nearby than I initially thought

I was planning on using pla (scraps from my 3d printing) and hdpe. But I don't have a reliable source for hdpe as of yet.

hi everyone and thank you!! please feel free to share this channel using this link https://discord.gg/TmZyk6C with other like minded precious plastic enthusiasts in your area! also check out this link https://community.preciousplastic.com/map/ for an insight on the people in your area who have added them selves to the "map"

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Precious Plastic USA

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Precious Plastic Community Platform

A series of tools for the Precious Plastic community to collaborate around the world. Connect, share and meet each other to tackle plastic waste.

Rico pinned a message to this channel. 1/11/2020 6:43 PM

See what you can do to start helping in your state today! Please feel free to contact me with any questions :) https://preciousplastic.com/starterkits/overview.html

Precious Plastic Starterktis

Starterkits are packages of information with everything you need to know to set up Precious Plastic recycling spaces and start tackling the plastic waste problem.

Hey everyone. My name is Mike, and I'm from Findlay (but I'm a trucking owner/operator, so I travel most of the state and surrounding states). I currently don't have any workspace, but I can grab a membership at the Big Fab Lab in Bowling Green to get access to their workspace. I live a little far from there, but if I can line up some work it'd justify the $39/mo membership. Last I checked they didn't have permits lined up for welding or forging, but they've got a lot of machinery including lathes, a woodshop, and CNC machine, so v3 machines are feasible with outsourced welding.

hey @Deleted User my name is ismael. you sound really interested in jumping into this! have you looked into the starter kits on the website?(theyre great) your trying to start like a machine shop, yeh? hey, im an operator too, but im laying low this season. Im new to the driving and want to stay safe at home with the family lol. be safe out there! let me know where you want to take precious plastic id love to help

I have a mechanical background, so I'm comfortable with machine/parts/die building, but I'm also getting a bachelor's in materials science and engineering, so I can do backup on design. I just don't have the space for processing, so I've been slow getting started. I've been following PP for 4 years and got caught up on all the new videos this morning. Everything is slow this season, especially for open deck, so I'm mostly saving my tires for spring, and looking for something to do outside the 20 hours a week I manage to turn the key. I've been driving for 10 years, and election years are always awful. Stay safe yourself, Ismael.

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have you connected with like minded people in your area? i think building a network is key to getting this going.

Nah. I don't talk to anyone other than customers IRL. I'll put a flyer up at the makerspace, and that'll probably pull a solid 2-6 part timers. Everyone there is looking for customers, and I'd be happy to split revenue based on workload. After we've got a v3 setup it'll be easy enough to draw enough attention for monthly workshops. Space is a little tight there for collection and shred storage, but an opportunity for collection/ processing space will probably open up after workshops. There's plenty of space to rent out at the mall if there's enough interest, and I could probably swing another collection point down in Findlay once production picks up. I've got a pickup with a flatbed and lift gate that could probably haul 4 totes no problem. It wouldn't be too hard to reach out to members in the Toledo area next.

Central Ohio here, just a little north of Columbus. I haven't started on anything apart from browsing the website. Not sure how I can/want to contribute yet.

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We're all pretty spread out so far. Hard to say what the community is going to need once things get going.

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I'm going to go ahead and meet with the owner of BiG Fab Lab in Bowling Green in the next few weeks to see about getting a machine workspace set up. If he worked out a permit with the city for welding then we've got 100% of the equipment needed to start building. From there, it'll probably take me about two months to get certified on all the machinery. Once that's done I'll go ahead and incorporate a new company. Anyone is welcome to join me if they're interested.

I see on the new map that there is a community point at OSU

its not too far away from me

Good move. I found a few machine shops on the old map I need to check out.

Do you have a link to the old map?

https://oldmap.preciousplastic.com

Precious Plastic Map

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Officially made a pin for a community point yesterday

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I roll through there around twice a week for work. Might have to drop in some time.

I got an email saying I need to improve the details of my pin (which is fair, I have a sentence), so I'm going to expand it to Delaware County to more easily include other towns

Not a bad move. That's a pretty drivable area.

Updated details, now it says awaiting moderation again. I guess it changes automatically. I should probably change the profile pic while I'm at it

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I got approved by Kat

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Looking to connect with anyone near Cincy on my community point!

Hey everyone! This is Shannon in Athens, Ohio. We are looking for people in Ohio/surrounding area who know how to make these machines. We have a shredder and an injection molder, but are looking to get a quote to purchase a V4 extruder. Any leads?

Hi Shannon, i haven't heard anything about that

8:19 PM

How have people been doing with recycling amid the pandemic?

I’m in Kentucky but moving to Cincy and wanting to get more involved in this. I’m hopefully getting a shredder built in the next few months. Looking for any cincy folks to connect with!

@StefHogan good luck! I know some people down there and might be able to convince them lol

hello! i live in louisville, ky but just dropping by in case any folks nearby want to connect. I worked on v4 and can build machines. if you're looking for any help/input feel free to reach out! also, hi @StefHogan nice to see ya here

(edited)

pauldufour

hello! i live in louisville, ky but just dropping by in case any folks nearby want to connect. I worked on v4 and can build machines. if you're looking for any help/input feel free to reach out! also, hi @StefHogan nice to see ya here

(edited)

Ahhhh Paul!! I’m gonna reach out to you soon!

Hi I'm in Columbus, Ohio. I just found this channel. Anyone else from Columbus?

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Welcome Tim! We are set up down in Athens... close to C-bus but still a trek. Hope you can connect with some other folks in your area! Are you trying to get set up or do you have some momentum already?

Hi Poised2Pogo. I was in Athens a 2 or 3 years ago for the Paw Paw fest. It was a lot of fun. I have a shredder and have been making 8" X 11" X 1.5" bricks that I have been using for a landscaping project in my basement. I have been sourcing the HDPE from friends and neighbors. I am thinking about renting a space and starting a collection / shredding / manufacturing center. The biggest challenge I have is removing labels. How do you do that? (edited)

Oh cool

perhaps you saw our normal project in action at the Pawpaw festival? My partner and I own the Zero Waste Event Productions and normally manage the waste diversion efforts for festivals and events... since COVID we have been pivoting to plastics manufacturing so we can stay busy

The bricks sound cool! Do you use a press to get the shape? How have you been hearing the plastic? We use all #2 as well, mostly detergent jugs from laundromats for the different colors but we also have been getting some of those 6 pack toppers from a local brewery (which are nice because they are clean and ready to shred) The jugs are a total pain! I’ve been cutting the labels off since when they are printed on, as many are, the ink does some nasty stuff when heated up. Then I’ve been cutting into chunks/strips and tossing the lot in a gym bag and washing in a machine to get al the excess soap out before shredding... still a ton of work but the best method I’ve come across so far. If you so scale up and get a good collection/shredder space going, I would be interested to purchase some processed #2 if you find you have extra

I was at the Pawpaw festival working with the local EV group. I have a Tesla Model X that we were displaying. I suspect that I saw your project in action but did not realize it. There was so much going on. I use a 9" X 13" X 2.25" nonstick backing pan, a toaster oven, and 5LB's of finely shredded #2 HDPE to make a 8" X 11.5" X 1.5" brick. Once the plastic is melted in the oven I place a metal plate on top of the pan, set it on a 6 ton hydraulic press, and apply pressure while it cools. This keeps the top and bottom from warping / shrinking. It will still shrink around the sides but that is OK since once it is cooled I cut the brick to size on a table saw. The cutoff can then be shredded or reused as is. It takes about 2.5 hours to fully melt the plastic and about 2 hours to cool. I have been using the bricks to replace a broken sidewalk. It takes about 5.75 bricks to cover the width of the sidewalk. I have 2 lengths of sidewalk that I want to replace in the spring. I have 3 bricks so far. It takes about 30 or 40 1 gallon milk jugs to make a 5 LB brick. I have also used plastic shopping bags and it takes a lot of those to make a brick. For containers like laundry bottles that have printed on labels I have been shredding the label on the plastic. I installed an exhaust fan to help remove fumes and that has helped a lot. I have not had a lot of them so I have been hand rinsing them. At the moment I am getting most of my plastic from my use and close by neighbors and friends. I plan to scale up this spring. I still need to work out cost to sell product. Do you have product that you sell? If I have extra processed #2 what specification would you have like, size of shredded product, colors, anything else? (edited)

Nice! Sounds like a great use of plastic for sure! I would love to see a picture of the walkway if you get a chance at some point! Those guys Brothers Make do a lot of compression and using wood working tools and have some really cool you tube videos on their techniques you might dig! We do have some products that we sell though not many sales yet; we just got an online shop set up right before Christmas. We started with a small community grant to make PPE and got a mold for making faceshield frames. We made 600 (took way longer than originally expected!) and distributed them for free to teachers, old folks homes, and other folks around Athens. Other than that we make little succulent planters, some earrings, coasters, and a few other small items... not everything is up on our shop yet but if you wanna take a look there is a tab on our website: Www.ZeroWasteFest.com As for the #2 the finer the shred the better. We have an injection machine which can take larger shred/chunks but it has to be almost granular for our extruder which we just got. Also, colors are certainly more desirable but we would need to be sure the printed labels weren’t mixed in. For some reason the ink gets weird in the machines and will come boiling out and can mess with the normal flow... also will make the products stink like burned chemicals which isn’t great. Keep me posted as things unfold on that walk way man! And yeah if you find you have a lot of excess plastic shred let me know and I’m sure we can work out a deal!

I from pa

Hi redog2006! Where in pa?

I live in clarion County

2:57 PM

Do u do any plastic recycling

I have been making 5 LB bricks for use in landscaping from #2 HDPE.

Thats cool u get a machine from precious plastic I collect plastic and other stuff for recycling looking into start making stuff from plastic

3:02 PM

I run a nonprofit organization called Tim's drop off center collect all kinds off recycling to help with mission trips missionary work and give back to the community

I have a version 1 Precious Plastic shredder and will be adding an extruder soon. I ordered them from a place in OR.

I hoping to get machines soon where u get them at on here and how u getvvendors to buy your stuff

I ordered the machines from: https://www.preciousplastic-usa.com/ So far I have been making stuff for my use. Poised2Pogo has been selling some stuff. He might be able to answer that. He will be on later I today.

HOME | preciousplastic-usa

Can I add u has a friend on h ere

Sure thing. Is clarion county in western PA?

Ya i think.lol

Cool. I got to go but will be back this afternoon. Talk more then.

Ok ty u for chating with me

Hey Redog, cool to hear you have a collection going! It’s certainly been a bit of a challenge to sell products. The goal is to add value to the plastic and make stuff that people will use rather than just more junk

so that might depend on who the target market is. We got our shredder box and our injection machine from the same machine shop that Tim F linked to. Got an extruder from MegaTech which is well built but took a super long time to get since they are having some capacity issues with the pandemic

Ya

3:59 PM

What do u all make

3:59 PM

I sent u a friend request poised2pogo

We make little succulent plant pots, faceshields, an assortment of earrings, differently shaped coasters and knobs for drawers or coat hangers... also some baskets with the extruder but we just started with that. Not everything is up on our shop but there is a tab on our website if you wanna check it our

Www.ZeroWasteFest.com

Ok ty

Poised2Pogo Here are a couple of pictures of the project:

9:45 PM

You can see all the cracks in the cement and the cement has been pressed down about 2 or 3 inches. My current plan is to replace the 2 slabs with recycled bricks. I think I will need around 20. I need to do some measuring and math to get a better number. Bottom line is I need a lot more plastic to recycle. The brown one is from Kroger shopping bags. the others are transparent milk jugs or white containers. I have watched several of the Brothers Make videos. They are great and very inspirational! I saw your WEB site a few months back. What a great idea. I would love to come down and see your setup. I could bring some of the shredded plastic so you can see if it will work for you. For what I am currently using the plastic for I do not think the printed label will be a problem but I can see they might be when I get an extruder. (edited)

Cool man! Looking good! And yeah, looks like that will take a good bit of plastic still! I found that most buckets, milk crates, and flat bread crates are #2 also. Pretty useful items as they are but if you have any busted buckets around they go pretty far since they are a thicker plastic than milk jugs

Hit enter before I was finished lol so just finished editing.

@Tim F this is the type of stuff I find when scrapping for copper,aluminum. All HDPE OR LDPE (edited)

StefHogan

I’m in Kentucky but moving to Cincy and wanting to get more involved in this. I’m hopefully getting a shredder built in the next few months. Looking for any cincy folks to connect with!

I’m in Cincy!

i'm in cincy

4:02 AM

this is isn't me, just linking to it https://www.preciousplasticcincy.com/

Home | PPC

@Tim F plastic gets slippery fast (especially in an area that like that grows mold on concrete like that) make sure you build a LOT of texture into the brick surface.

Anybody in this chat still actively working on precious plastics?! I am co-lead if my university’s precious plastics club/design team! Want to brainstorm more ideas on what to create with recycled plastic and or if an extruder or shredder is good to have for this

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graceisamazing24

Anybody in this chat still actively working on precious plastics?! I am co-lead if my university’s precious plastics club/design team! Want to brainstorm more ideas on what to create with recycled plastic and or if an extruder or shredder is good to have for this

I’m in Cincy if you want to connect!

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Im in the Akron area but would love to collab!

I in pa

O H

I O

I've been fairly inactive recently. I have yet to set up anything "official" yet. I did see that there are a few buildings in town for sale/rent that may be a good for workspaces.

I'm setting up a sheetpress operation in Columbus

12:22 AM

https://marbleplastics.com/

Marble Plastics

100% Recycled Plastic Sheets. Recycled for Real.

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Jaklatt .. would like to pick your brain concerning the method(s) you are using to create your sheets please contact me privately