1 tonne weekly plastic recycling plan

[Faisal A]

So this is my plan to recycle one tonne of plastic weekly and combine it with my hobby ; 3d printing

So firstly I need to collect plastic. I will run a collection point one hour every Monday and collect all plastic available. Then people and companies with large amounts of waste will be collected from free of charge within my local community. On Tuesday I will shred the plastic using 2 100 KG per hour shredders. They are rated for 100 KG an hour but I am shredding plastic, not paper, so I hope to do 50 KG per hour per shredder. On Wednesday to Friday I will extruded the plastc into a long 1.75mm line. This will be wound in spools and can be put in to 3D printer. Once the 1.75mm filament is wound on to spools, they will be sold for only £3 a kilo on Saturday (to my community, no deliver available). Any leftovers will be sold online for £5 a kilo.

So first I need to buy the equipment. I need to shredders. I can get these from screwfix for £100 each, so I will get 2 of those. https://www.screwfix.com/p/mac-allister-mshp2800d-2-2800w-100kg-hr-shredder-220-240v/727fg

Then I will need filament extruders. I am thinking of making my own and will publish the plans later on this thread. Any feedback is highly appreciated

[lewdicrous]

You will need to sort the plastic before you shred it.

Not all plastics melt at the same temp. and not all plastics melt in the first place.

Also, if you want separate colored filaments, then you'll need to sort them by color as well.

[Faisal A]

@lewdicrous The plastics will be hand sorted into categories like milk bottles, petg, abs e.t.c

@James Evens Because I am not making a profit from it. Every body else is

[Faisal A]

@VegetableStu Most plastics that can melt under 200C. Objects aswell like old appliances which have an ABS housing. General recyclable stuff too like milk bottle, water bottles e.t.c

[lewdicrous]

6 minutes ago, Faisal A said:

@lewdicrous The plastics will be hand sorted into categories like milk bottles, petg, abs e.t.c

You'll also need to clean the plastics before you melt them, cause not everyone is going to clean their recyclables before throwing them.

[Faisal A]

@lewdicrous Good point I never considered that.

@James Evens I am not looking to make a lot of profit. What waste will there be if everything is recycled ?

[UrbanFreestyle]

Dont think this will happen but i am interested to see how this turns out so doing a follow.

[lewdicrous]

19 minutes ago, Faisal A said:

@lewdicrous Good point I never considered that.

As @James Evens mentioned, not everything is recyclable, especially when it comes to household items.

If you're gonna take bottle of all kinds, then you'll have a bunch of labels that you'll need to take care of.

Most bottle caps (and the ring thing that is usually attached to it) are not made of the same kind of plastic as the bottle itself, you'll need to identify and sort those separately.

Not everything people put in the recycling bins are actually recyclable or even worth recycling (time, money, effort, etc)

[lewdicrous]

Also, here are some important question:

Will this be a solo job or will you have someone help you?

If you have a helper, will you pay them? If so, how will you get the money?

Will you need a permit to do this and to possibly employ someone?

Do you have the space to store the amount of plastic you're proposing and the potential overflow?

Do you have a space to keep all the unrecyclable trash?

Did you contact your local landfill or garbage collection company so set up weekly pickups said trash you end up sorting out?

Do you suppose you'll get back the amount of money you're putting in?

Do you have a long-term plan for any potential expansion, sorting methods, cleaning methods, etc?

[Faisal A]

43 minutes ago, lewdicrous said:

Also, here are some important question:

Will this be a solo job or will you have someone help you?

If you have a helper, will you pay them? If so, how will you get the money?

Will you need a permit to do this and to possibly employ someone?

Do you have the space to store the amount of plastic you're proposing and the potential overflow?

Do you have a space to keep all the unrecyclable trash?

Did you contact your local landfill or garbage collection company so set up weekly pickups said trash you end up sorting out?

Do you suppose you'll get back the amount of money you're putting in?

Do you have a long-term plan for any potential expansion, sorting methods, cleaning methods, etc?

Q1) Solo

Q2) No helpers

Q3) NA

Q4) No I dont need a permit as I am collecting myslef

Q5) Yes I have plenty of space

Q6) I can pay the dumpster to dispose of it

Q7) I am collecting from the company not the landfill

Q8) Dont care about money retreivemnt. Just want to help the environment

Q9) Buy more equipment. Create an autonomous cleaner instead of doing by hand

[lewdicrous]

20 minutes ago, Faisal A said:

Q1) Solo

Q2) No helpers

Q3) NA

Q4) No I dont need a permit as I am collecting myslef

Q5) Yes I have plenty of space

Q6) I can pay the dumpster to dispose of it

Q7) I am collecting from the company not the landfill

Q8) Dont care about money retreivemnt. Just want to help the environment

Q9) Buy more equipment. Create an autonomous cleaner instead of doing by hand

Currently you'll be buying equipment for shredding and melting the plastic, you'll be paying for the disposal of waste and possibly paying for collection from companies (companies that might already have contracts with recycling centers).

How are you planning to support this project/hobby of yours?

If your plan is to pay only and not get much in return, then the costs are gonna add up fast.

 

You need a stable plan, not only for the collection and recycling part, but also for the sustainability of the entire project.

[mariushm]

Not gonna happen.

 

The filament is made of some special plastics.  The stuff you have in commerce (PET plastics in bottles, ABS , whatever) melt too fast and don't have the proper characteristics that make them suitable to use with 3d printers.

 

The major filament types are PLA, ABS and PETG (PET glycol-modified) / PETT , thermoplastic elastomers (TPE, TPU etc) , polycarbonate, nylon ... see a whole list here with details about their particularities: https://all3dp.com/1/3d-printer-filament-types-3d-printing-3d-filament/

You can't just mix plastics and create filament.

 

 

[Faisal A]

@mariushm I am not going to mix the plastics. The plastics with the petg lable will be extruded in a separate extruder from the other plastics. I was hoping I could mix them together the way metals are mixed together and create an alloy, but thats not gonna happen

@lewdicrous I dont want to make back the money I have invested. I am not even going to pay myself a wage. I just want a bit of fillament and help the environment. I just want to get a bit of money to pay for the electricity e.t.c

[mariushm]

You're not gonna find PETG plastics in bottles or whatever... you'll find regular PET which is not the same thing.

 

Also, it's gonna cost you more to make filament than buying the filament.... you're forgetting the cost of extrusion ... not just the machine but also the heating ... you're gonna have 100w+ of heating power for hours while slowly extruding plastic filament.

[Faisal A]

@mariushm I have a 200w solar setup

[Blue4130]

1 tonne per week? Uhh, how much 3d printing is happening near you? I live in a city of 20 million and I doubt there's is enough peoples printing to require 1tonne per week. 

 

If you are serious, start small, buy one shredder, make a handful or rolls, a dozen. Test the heck out of it and make sure it's good quality. Sell a few only after you have it perfected. Build production up slowly. 

[WH2002]

I'd recommend that you take a look at the precious plastic project on the youtube channel from Dave Hakkens. This guy and his team have done a lot of research about plastic recycling. 

 

[Faisal A]

@Blue4130 The filament will be sold online

[Blue4130]

5 hours ago, Faisal A said:

@Blue4130 The filament will be sold online

Even so, that's about 1000 rolls. Per week. From a one person operation that nobody has heard of. I doubt you would be able to sell a fraction of that. Once again I say, start small.