A growing company called Precious Plastic is developing a line of tools to let anyone convert waste plastic into usable objects, turning trash, as they say, into treasure.

Started by Dave Hakkens, a 27 year old Dutch designer, their system of modular machines are being made available with free plans anyone can download then construct with basic tools and local materials. These machines let you spin plastic into cord or even use it to 3D-print complex objects.

Last year the world produced nearly 311 million tons of plastic, but less than 10% of that was recycled. Most of it ends up in landfills, oceans and even animals.

The goal of Precious Plastic is to make recycling open-source and universally-available, ultimately as cheap and easy as throwing something away, and a way not only to help the environment but for people to save money, too

The post Precious Plastic: DIY Recycling + 3D Printing Machines first appeared on Gajitz.

Printer company Epson has developed the world’s first machine for performing in-house paper recycling without the use of water and with the ability to produce crisp white sheets, calibrated to custom brightness levels.

The PaperLab uses a technology that first strips the papers into fibers and employs special adhesives that bind the fibers in creating new paper, all without the costly, time- and money-consuming cycle of sending out paper for recycling.

Aside from the sustainability benefits, the PaperLab also makes shredders potentially redundant, as sensitive documents can simply be recycled on the spot.

The machine pumps out a whopping fourteen sheets per minute, too, making it able to keep up with demanding, high-paper-waste environments. The device debuts next year, and while no price has yet been set, it is large, innovative and intended for work environments and will likely cost more accordingly.

The post Clean Sheets: The World’s First In-Office Paper Recycler first appeared on Gajitz.

Fueled by crowdfunding and pre-orders, this self-contained domestic waste-repurposing unit can produce enough gas for a 2 to 4 hours of cooking as well as 5 to 8 liters of liquid fertilizer daily, all using organic scraps.

A complete system for sustainable recycling, HomeBiogas is the product of an Israeli startup and aimed at homeowners who want to something faster and more versatile in its outputs than traditional composting provides, using anything from animal waste to kitchen leftovers. The resulting organic fuel may not power your flying, time-traveling Delorean but it can sure help around the house.

While it will work as well in the suburbs as anywhere, the system may have particular appeal for those living off-the-grid in remote places, where bringing in fertilizers and fuels may be costly or difficult and sustainable strategies can save both time and money.

The the unit can convert just one kilogram of food waste into about 200 liters (7 cubic feet) of gas, more than enough to fuel an hour’s worth of cooking. At 88 pounds and a few feet long, it isn’t tiny but is still relatively portable (and well-suited to people with rural plots). The retail cost: $1,500 (or $900 presale), but like solar or wind power installations, the presumption is that the system will pay back for itself over time.

The post Backyard Biofuel: Home Converter Reuses Organic Waste first appeared on Gajitz.

Eugene Chen, a chemist at the Colorado State University, has developed a fully reusable bioplastic – a unique new biopolymer that can be fully recycled back to its original monomer state for reuse through a heat-based reaction using GBL (Gamma-butyrolactone).

Previously, biopolymers could only be partially converted back to usable forms, contributing to the tens of millions of pounds of waste plastic that makes its way into the world’s oceans annually (over 5 trillion fragments).

Chen and partners were able to create linear and cyclic versions of the polymer by varying the catalysts used and the reaction conditions of the production process, upturning existing consensus opinions that purely (and complete) thermal recycling would be impossible.

These properties of the poly(GBL) underscore its immense industry-changing potential. It is importantly petroleum-free, can be broken down by living organisms (biodegradable) and can be fully recycled for future use. The discovery was published in Nature Chemistry journal and a provisional patent  recently received the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award.

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Disposable drink containers are among the most ubiquitous waste generated by first-world populations. Some parts of the world have opted to charge deposits for drink containers: a few pennies which are refunded when you recycle the containers. In Australia, the container deposit plan is just starting to take shape, and they’ve implemented a clever way to encourage recycling.

“Cash for Containers” is a simple plan. You just take your empty cans and bottles to reverse vending machines. When you put a container in, you get vouchers, cash, or rewards. The machines let you choose your own reward – bus vouchers, movie tickets, chocolate bars, and various other choices.

Envirobank, the company behind the machines, hopes that the initiative will help Australians recycle much more of their waste. Cans and plastic bottles take hundreds of years to break down, so paying that extra 10 cents per drink and then getting rewarded for recycling the containers seems like an effective plan to keep huge amounts of garbage out of the landfill.

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