You have a friend with a garage, a background in Industrial Design and a heartbreaking global plastic waste problem visible from your doorstep. This is what Sneyder Neira, Robert Vivas and Ivan Felipe Correa did along with a team of collaborators and dedicated volunteers…
In 2017 the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) stated that as much as 51 trillion microplastic particles – 500 times more than stars in our galaxy – litter the seas. Each year, more than eight million metric tonnes of plastic end up in oceans, with devastating results on marine wildlife.
Greenpeace reported that Coca-Cola produces more than 100bn throwaway plastic bottles every year – or 3,400 a second. The top six drinks companies in the world use a combined average of just 6.6% of recycled Pet (polyethylene terephthalate – commonly used in containers for liquids and foods) in their products, when plastic drinking bottles could be made out of 100% recycled plastic, known as RPet. While The Guardian reported that Philip Law, director general of the British Plastics Federation (BPF), a plastics trade body, admitted that making bottles out of 100% recycled plastic used 75% less energy than creating virgin plastic bottles.
It is suggested that the decision to not use more RPet is based upon aesthetic reasons – companies prefer to sell their products in clear, shiny bottles. A new generation of designers are seeking ways in which they can educate and change the cultural aesthetics at a grass roots level to efficiently create new 100% recycled products for the market.
Plástico Infinito founders Robert Vivas, Ivan Felipe Correa and Sneyder Neira, have collaborated with other designers in the city of Cali, in order to reintegrate waste plastic back into daily life. The products they produce range from domestic objects for around the house to specialist parts for surfboards and longboards.
In 2015, Sneyder, as a student of Industrial Design at Universidad Nacional de Colombia, participated in IDDS Zero Waste 2015. The international design development summit was organised by C-innova and the International Development Innovation Network (IDIN) set up by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). During the event, participants formed groups where they were challenged to find solutions to different types of waste such as construction waste, organic waste and plastic waste. Sneyder’s group developed a prototype to transform Pet into filament. Following this summit, he was awarded a grant to develop his work and build his first plasticising extruder machine (see equipment list below for details).
One year after graduating, Sneyder met Robert and Ivan, and they decided to develop a business – Plástico Infinito. The vision was to create a clean and cheap method of converting waste plastic into useable products, through building more machines, developing molds and designing new products based on recycled plastic. They came together with a common interest in the concept of Precious Plastic – a global community of people working towards a solution to plastic pollution. Through this community knowledge, tools and techniques are shared, with free access the machine blueprints and YouTube tutorials.
In 2016, the project began in Robert’s garage. Now they have a workshop space based in Cali, Colombia, where they give workshops and develop their products.
The Process
1) Collection: waste plastic is collected through various sources, including working with a variety of foundations that organise groups of local and foreign volunteers to collect plastic on the beaches on the Pacific coast.
2) Cleaning: the material is cleaned from contaminants – food, liquid and sand.
3) Classification: the plastic is separated by type (PET, HDPE, LDPE, PP, PS and others). It is also sorted by colour for design purposes.
4) Shredding: the material passes through the shredding machine and is transformed into smaller fragments.
5) Thermal transformation: in this process, the injector, compressor and plasticising extruder machines intervene, each with a different process and result.
Equipment List
The Injector is a manual machine that produces small objects according to the mold that is being manufactured. These objects include the keyrings and surf keels. In this machine the material enters a duct through a hopper, then it is pushed by a bar and heated by means of electric resistors up to the indicated temperature depending on the material (between 180°C and 250°C), when it is in an optimal state it enters the mold and cools to take the final form. The mold is then opened, the object extracted and given the final finishes.
The Compressor works like an oven with a press, this is for creating sheet like objects, containers and blocks. The plastic is first placed in the lower part of the mold where it reaches a uniform temperature. Then the two parts of the mold are compressed making a plastic ‘sandwich’ to obtain the desired shape.
The Plasticising Extruder works with a motor and an endless screw, the plastic enters through a hopper and is pushed by the screw passing through heat resistors. At the end a constant plastic flow is achieved and the plastic is weaved in hot or cold to get varied objects.
The Molds are different in each machine. In the conventional plastic industry the molds have a very high cost. For this reason Plástico Infinito are exploring materials and processes to reduce this cost. They have experimented with making them out of plaster, silicone, acrylic, resin and metal. They have now obtained a good cost-to-quality relationship by creating the molds in acrylic and metal, using a laser cutter.
Sports Equipment
Cali, since the Pan American Games of 1971, has been known internationally as a city of sport. This has spawned many entrepreneurs and thriving sub-cultures in this sector. Located 20 minutes from a mountain range, and only two hours from the Pacific Coast, a variety of extreme sports have been attracted to the location.
Sneyder explains that this sports culture has been an important influence in the direction of product development for Plástico Infinito, “With our sport products, we are highly influenced by the dynamics of the city and the places we frequent… In the visits to the Pacific Coast we found an opportunity to collaborate with a surf club in the Colombian coastal villages, Juanchaco and Ladrilleros. We made a design of a surf keel to test how the material behaves supporting the force of the waves. Until now they have worked very well, we now aim to improve the aerodynamic profile of the fins to give more speed to the surfboards.”
They are also developing mini skateboards with Down Rocket Boards and longboard parts with CRAB Accesorios.
Further Information
Plástico Infinito was founded by Robert and Sneyder who have a background in Industrial Design from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, and Ivan who is an Electrical Engineer.
FB: /plasticoinfinito I: @plasticoinfinito YT: Plastico Infinito Channel
Precious Plastic is a global community of hundreds of people working towards a solution to plastic pollution. Through this worldwide community knowledge, tools and techniques are shared. You can access the machine blueprints and Youtube tutorials for free. Precious Plastic was started in 2013 by Dave Hakkens.
www.preciousplastic.com
T: @davidhakkens YT: Precious Plastic Channel I: @realpreciousplastic
Eco-Pazifico is an interdisciplinary collective formed by professionals from all over the world. Their focus is to create programmes with communities on the Colombian Pacific Coast, including the remote beaches of Juanchaco, Ladrilleros and La Barra. Projects are based on the communities necessities, culture and social structure.
www.ecopazifico.org
FB: /ecopazifico I: @eco_pazifico
International Development Innovation Network (IDIN) was a programme led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) implemented by a global consortium of academic, institutional, and innovation center partners and supported by USAID’s Higher Education Solutions Network in the U.S. Global Development Lab. IDIN Network members and partners continue to support innovators and entrepreneurs around the globe to design, develop, and disseminate technologies to improve the lives of people living in poverty.
www.idin.org
FB: /IDINetwork T: @IDINetwork
Down Rocket Boards is a Colombian based longboard company that collaborated with Plástico Infinito to create a mini skate board.
FB: /DownRocketLongboard I: @downrocketboards
Main featured image is the mini skateboard designed by Down Rocket Boards ©Plástico Infinito
