Buckeye Precious Plastic

BPP

A Creative Solution to Plastic Pollution at The Ohio State University.

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Putting OSU on Precious Plastic's Map

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In general, there is a lack of recycling knowledge in our community. Sustainability in plastics means designing products with lifespans to be reused or recycled. It also means promoting alternatives to single-use plastic, connecting communities and consumers with recycled products, describing current supply chains for recycling waste, and demonstrating our own recycling machines with the hopes of inspiring others to create from their plastic waste.

Meet the urgent need of recycling with innovative community approaches. Although recycling is widely practiced in the Columbus area, we implement and encourage behavioral closed-loop recycling. We also engage with community recycling and cleanup efforts.

Using industrial machines, we process the plastic we collect and create new products. Currently, we have made machines based on the Precious Plastic designs and have utilized machines provided by Integrated Systems Engineering at The Ohio State University.

FAQs

Precious Plastic

What is Precious Plastic?

Precious Plastic is an international group started in 2013 in the Netherlands by Dave Hakkens, since then over 1,000 groups have joined. Precious Plastic is one of four projects sponsored by the One Army foundation.


How is Buckeye Precious Plastic related?

BPP is a community point within the Precious Plastic project. We help connect fellow recyclers with tools, engineers, and resources to increase recycling within Ohio and the Midwest region. We joined the Precious Plastic community in 2018.


What does Precious Plastic do?

Precious Plastic provides open-source designs for recycling machines, helpful tutorials on how to work with plastic, and documentation to start a business within the plastic recycling industry. Their resources are designed for international application and are free to share!

Our Recycling

What plastics does BPP recycle?

We currently recycle plastic #2 - HDPE and #5 - PP. We are exploring methods to recycle other plastic types. However, these two are the safest and easiest to work with as of now.


Can I drop off plastic for BPP?

We primarily accept plastic from our members and partners. However, if you have cleaned and sorted #2 or #5 plastic we would accept your plastic for recycling. Please contact us through email to set up a time for collection.


How does BPP recycle?

We collect post-consumer plastic waste. We make sure the plastic is clean and then sort it by type and color. We shred the plastic into flakes. These flakes are then used in our machines to create recycled products.

Our Machines

What recycling machines does BPP have?

We currently operate 4 machines in our recycling process. The shredder, the Precious Plastic V3 Injection, a Morgan Press, and a micro injection. We are testing the V3 Compression Oven, a sheet press, and a washing system.


How much did it cost to make these machines?


Where can I purchase materials to make these machines?


How long did it take to make these machines?

Our Products

What products does BPP create?


Does BPP sell products?


Where can I buy Precious Plastic products?


Can I suggest new products for BPP to create?

Outreach

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What events does BPP host?


Where can I see BPP in action?


Can I visit BPP's workspace?


Can I set up an event with BPP?