Precious Plastic values recycling plastic waste with new technologies

Precious Plastic is a community that started in the Netherlands with the main goal of fighting “plastic pollution”. For this, they created a network of workspaces where all the tools and machines give a second life to plastics, either directly as new models or as a filament for 3D printing.

So far, we have generated more than 8 tons of plastic waste on Earth and only 8% of them are recycled. It is for this reason that Precious Plastic was born; the community thus favors the circular economy, like the Australian micro-factory. To better understand the genesis of the project and its challenges, we spoke with Mattia Bernini, one of its developers.

3DN: Can you introduce yourself and tell us how came the idea of ​​Precious Plastic to be?

Hello, my name is Mattia Bernini, designer and in charge of strategy at Precious Plastic. We started working on the project when we realised that less than 10% of the plastic is recycled worldwide. So we decided to create a solution that could be located between large inaccessible recycling companies and people like you and me. Give them solutions to work with plastic waste to try to solve this disaster that we created.

3DN: Can you explain how the Precious Plastic project works?

Precious Plastic is a project that offers solutions to fight against plastic pollution. Its goal is to value plastics to completely eliminate waste, reduce demand for new plastics, close material loops and educate people around the world. Precious Plastic’s strategy is to make equipment, knowledge and recycling facilities available around the world. To do this, we train people to use machines and teach them techniques to convert plastic waste into new products or 3D printing filaments.

3DN: What do you think is the importance of promoting the circular economy today?

Circular economy, sustainability, biomimicry, zero waste, call it what you want, it’s the same fight: we must question our production and consumption patterns. Otherwise, we risk going straight into the wall.

3DN: How do you see Precious Plastic in 10 years?

We want to rethink how society sees plastic, from cheap and disposable to precious materials. We see a network of small plastic recyclers emerging around the world, sharing their knowledge, tools and solutions, beyond profit; it’s a real collaboration. A kind of global family that cares for each member while cleaning up the mess.

3DN: A last word for our readers?

It is important to be aware of this problem with plastic. You have to reduce your consumption or at least reuse the material and start acting. If you do not have the time or the skills, talk about it, it does not cost anything.

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