Creative Plastic Recycling

If you’re interested in learning new techniques to turn plastic trash into long-lasting valuable products using low-cost small-scale processes, then this course is for you. You’ll learn how to create tableware, sign posts, jewelery, and other items from plastic scraps using equipment that can cost as little as 100 dollars.

For some of us, recycling simply means putting our used plastic into the right color bin and hope it eventually gets to a recycling station where it will then be converted into new products. Many of us hardly get to see how that happens. We assume it always has to involve large-scale equipment and complex automated processes out of our reach. Indeed in most cases this is necessary to realistically recycling the large portion of plastic waste that we generate daily.

Currently, humanity is generating the equivalent of its own weight in plastic waste every year. So we do need large-scale plastic recycling processes. However, there still seem to be some loop holes in the plastic recycling system whereby large amounts of plastics still don’t get recycled or don’t reach the recycling stations. So we do need more hands and minds on deck to ensure more plastics can be recycled.

One of the limitations of plastic recycling is the cost and the options of products into which plastics can be recycled. The types of plastics that can be recycled using conventional recycling processes are also limited. 

To this end, this course introduces new techniques for achieving a diverse range of products from a single low-cost plastic processing equipment. Participants will learn some techniques for adapting conventional plastic processing techniques to produce a wider range of products.

Whereas in conventional plastic processing and recycling, different equipment and/or major modifications to equipment would be required to achieve each of the products that you will learn to make in this course. Here we introduce methods for adopting a single plastic processing equipment to achieve multiple product types with minimal modification to the equipment.     

You will learn step by step how to produce 6 different products using a single processing method with different techniques and hacks to achieve diverse products. This significantly reduces the initial cost and complexity of plastic recycling.

Such that by the end of the course, you should be equipped with the knowledge to set up a simple small-scale plastic recycling station where you can develop your own unique styles and designs with recycled plastics. This can then be scaled up to medium or large scale as desired.   

Several processes exist for plastic processing and recycling such as injection moulding and blow moulding. However, the conventional plastic processing methods are often limited in terms of the range of products achievable and/or require significant modification to the equipment in order to make changes to product design.

For example, an injection molding machine requires a different mold to make a specific type of product. Due to the cost of the molds, it is important to operate on a large scale in order to achieve economy of scale for the process to be profitable. While another process, blow molding, is limited to hollow shapes with closed ends.

This course presents techniques for achieving a range of products using a single processing machine. This reduces the cost and complexity of plastic processing and recycling by allowing a diverse range of products to be achieved using simple equipment.

The techniques presented facilitate value addition to recycled plastic products through creativity and craftsmanship. Thus increasing the potential for profitability of small-scale plastic recycling ventures. This is particularly important in plastic recycling whereby the collection and sorting process significantly inhibits large-scale plastic recycling using automated assembly lines.

The course is largely demonstrative with straight forward demonstrations. It is designed as a virtual hands-on guide where you can follow each step of the production process and replicate the process to achieve the end products. It also serves as a demonstration to provide a deeper insight into the plastic recycling process for those just wanting to know how it happens.

This course is aimed at a diverse audience with the primary goal of disseminating knowledge and transferring the skill of innovative plastic recycling to the public.

The target audience includes plastics and polymer engineering students, plastic processing technicians and technologists, entrepreneurs in plastic recycling and plastic industries, artists and artisans, tinkerers, inventors and innovators, researchers, and others who will find a practical demonstration course on plastic processing and recycling useful.   

Policy makers and those involved in development work relating to plastic pollution management and environmental action are also enjoined to participate in the course to gain insight into how the recycling process works. This is expected to aid decision-making in setting policies on plastics. This is particularly important as some countries already have or are in the process of introducing taxes, regulations and even bans on certain categories of plastics.   

Above all, I hope this course will inspire all participants to re-imagine plastics as materials of infinite possibilities and valuable resources and take an active role in moving the world towards a more circular plastic economy.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How long do I have access to the course materials?

You can view and review the lecture materials indefinitely, like an on-demand channel.

Can I take my courses with me wherever I go?

Definitely! If you have an internet connection, courses on Udemy are available on any device at any time. If you don’t have an internet connection, some instructors also let their students download course lectures. That’s up to the instructor though, so make sure you get on their good side!