IN
ASSOCIATION
WITH
presents
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Encouraged by the recent legal framework set by the European motion ‘Strategy for Plastic in a Circular Economy’, we decided to bring to Ibiza
'Precious Plastic' as well as some other innovative concepts, which would
GIVE NEW LIFE
TO PLASTIC RESIDUES
THAT ARE INFESTING
OUR OCEANS AND LANDS.
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In order to survive, we will soon need to close the tap of Single-Use Plastic and learn how to best utilise what is already all around us.
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The PlúsTic Lab is a laboratory of 'circular creative design' and 'social activation' that is inspired by the Digital Fabrication and Makers culture, and which also promotes participatory approaches to the plastic crisis
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Thanks to the support of local NGOs such as: Ibiza Limpia, Plastic Free Ibiza & Formentera, plus sponsors, such as: Six Senses Hotel Ibiza, ​we managed to put together the right technology and expertise to start limited productions of unique artworks, furniture and interior design solutions, which would encourage people to experience of the whole plastic chain.
"OUR MISSION IS
TO INSPIRE AND RAISE AWARENESS
ABOUT THE ROLE OF PLASTIC IN OUR SOCIETY
CREATING OBJECTS, ART AND VALUE
FROM WASTE MATERIALS."
'Precious Plastic' is a project which was launched in 2013 by Dave Hakkens and is a collection of open source machines, tools and techniques, designed to reuse and re-value thermoplastics.
This has now become a global community, including hundreds of people working towards finding solutions to plastic pollution.
At PlúsTic we integrate these tools together with other digital equipments (such as 3DPrinters), and we use the best recycled-plastic filaments (such as Reflow), to reach finer design solutions and customized productions.
This is due to quite few reasons.
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Firstly… most types of packaging
(such as snacks packagings, films, multi layers materials, like Tetra Pak, ...)
are very costly or even impossible to recycle.
So, even when correctly disposed, most of them get incinerated
or sent to far-off countries, creating natural disasters or relying
on cheap labour to manage it.
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2. Traditional recycling is actually down-cycling, as it employs extra energy and water to often produce worst-quality objects.
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3. Normal recycling still promotes a single-use / throw-away culture, which is part of a failing linear economy.
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4. In some countries, such as Spain, not all the plastic is accepted within the standard recycling system. The main Waste Managing Company gets paid (in advance) to only recycle plastic packaging... not all the plastic objects...! Which should go to the landfill. So it also raises a question:
Where does all the money paid
for the missing packagings to be recycled, go?
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Today only around 9% of plastic ever made
has been recycled.
WHY NORMAL RECYCLING
DOESN'T WORK
SO, TO CUT IT SHORT…
MOST OF THIS PRECIOUS MATERIAL
(which only seems to be cheap due to the economy of scales of petroleum production, and doesn't take into account the high ecological and social cost involved in the process!),
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ENDS UP BEING BURNT, DOWN-CYCLED, DISPOSED IN THE LANDFILLS OR IN THE
NATURAL ENVIRONMENT!!!
OUR SOLUTION
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Our solutions to plastic pollution are:
a) To reduce all the unnecessary plastic and to eliminate single-use items;
b) To promote the culture of up-cycling plastic into something valuable and durable at the end of its life's cycle, and so, to impulse a new, circular approach for product design.
"2" IS OUR PERFECT
NUMBER
There are endless types of plastics (number 7 for example, means… all the others, and there are literally thousands of those)! Due to the fact that there is not an adequate regulation in place, each polymer is combined with different additives to give 'specific properties' to the material (often dangerous for human and environment health), which makes it very difficult to combine and reuse it.
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With this in mind, at Plustic Lab, we decided, for now, to concentrate on upcycling HDPE (plastic-type number 2), which is safer to treat and can give… great satisfaction!
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OUR PLAN
In summary, we want to take advantage of the new global trends and turn the enormous problem of plastic pollution into opportunities for Ibiza, applying an approach that includes:
d) To offer educational workshops and communication campaigns to inform and raise awareness.
e) To establish of a Fab Lab, in order to share resources and knowledge with local talents.
f) To offer complete solutions for re-shaping and re-thinking the world.
BENEFITS OF THIS APPROACH
a) The collection of plastic waste through specific schemes for private companies and for the local community.
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b) The design of limited edition items made with upcycled plastic, mixed with other recycled materials.
c) The production of prototypes employing the latest digital fabrication tools.
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WE GIVE VALUE
TO THE MATERIAL
COLLECTED
which would otherwise be sent off the island...
2
IT STAYS LOCAL
The plastic collected is transformed in Ibiza, learning how to deal with our own waste.
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CITIZEN
EDUCATION
This approach aims to educate citizens on the real purpose and value of plastic.
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IT'S POWERED
BY PEOPLE
So it’s resilient, human, and accessible.
Local citizens, public institutions, and many other entities are now joining forces in Ibiza and Formentera to raise against plastic pollution, and they are looking at new standards for a sustainable lifestyle.
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To be part of the change... Get in touch with us!
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