Building upon designs developed by Precious Plastic, we will build machines that help us recycle plastic into new objects, and develop new applications for democratic, distributed manufacturing worldwide.
Beginning in 2013, a team led by designer Dave Haakens set out on a mission to revolutionize the plastic industry by developing machines that could bring plastic recycling and manufacturing into the hands of individuals worldwide. The result was Precious Plastic, an Open Source set of machines and tutorials that empower almost anyone to start their own plastic recycling and manufacturing facility, regardless of geographic or economic context.
In STUDIO: Plastic Machines, we will participate in this exciting project by constructing these machines, recycling plastic waste into useful objects, and developing new applications for the Precious Plastic project. By partnering with Precious Plastic, our work will directly contribute to efforts to solve the environmental crisis caused by plastic waste and empower people worldwide to start their own plastic recycling operations, invigorating local economies worldwide.
Students who successfully complete this course will: