Precious Plastic is an open source global community of innovators who enable others to participate in local grassroots recycling by transforming ordinary plastic items into useful products, or even art. Hundreds of communities all over the world have a Precious Plastic workshop where they collect plastic, shred plastic and create products from recycled plastic. The online Precious Plastic website and community is a robust repository of information, tutorials, videos and more to help you make plastic into new things with lasting value.
Lakes Area Precious Plastic Lab
Thanks to a Community Changemaker Grant from West Central Initiative, and project partners Pope/Douglas Solid Waste and Springboard for the Arts, a Precious Plastic Lab was established at the Otter Tail County Recycling Center in fall of 2020. The Lakes Area Precious Plastic Lab includes a shredder, extruder, compression oven, and two injection machines. With these machines, you can bring plastic waste to the workspace to create durable and ‘precious’ plastic items! Follow along with the project by joining the Lakes Area Precious Plastic Facebook group.
Over the two years since the project has started, the Lakes Area Precious Plastic Lab has engaged thousands of area residents and visitors and helped them see their waste as the precious resource that it is. Visitors to the Lab experience ‘hands-on’ recycling to learn about the recycling process, and see how creativity can help solve one of our most pressing environmental problems – plastic waste. Plastics are cheap, durable, lightweight, and versatile materials that last hundreds of years. But the very qualities that make plastic useful make it a problem when it is used in disposable products that are thrown away in massive quantities. We need to change how we view our waste and instead of seeing it as something that has no value, we need to shift our perspective and see waste as the resource that is it. The Lakes Area Precious Plastic Lab helps people shift their perspective from seeing waste as having no value, to seeing it as something with potential that can be used for something better.
Past Projects
4Ground Land Art Tour: Future Fossils
Springboard for the Arts and the Lakes Area Precious Plastic Lab were part of the first 4Ground Land Art Tour coordinated by Franconia Sculpture Park. 4Ground is a far-reaching initiative spanning the Upper Midwest, designed to raise awareness around important land and water issues affecting the region while celebrating the art, land and history of the rural Midwest and boosting tourism of the region through suggested road trips to experience site-specific land art. Three local teams of artists created three ‘Future Fossils’ themed art installations that were on public view in downtown Fergus Falls during the summer of 2022.
We Are Water
The Plastic Lab collaborated with the MN Center for the Humanities to create an art installation out of recycled plastic that connects water use to waste. Hidden Water was made with hundreds of water drop shapes made out of recycled plastic. Residents were invited to help create the water drops during public events in the summer of 2022. The final installation was on display during the We Are Water exhibit at the Fergus Falls Public Library from August – October 2022.
Ornament Creation Station
In December of 2021, we facilitated an Ornament Creation Station at the Kaddatz Gallery in downtown Fergus Falls during the Over The River Holiday Festival. Over 300 people came through the event – visitors learned about the plastic recycling process, and took home a recycled plastic shape that they made into an ornament. The event will be repeated in December 2022.
Get Involved
With the Plastic Lab, we hope to inspire the community to value plastic by demonstrating that it is precious! Bring your cracked plastic flower pots, empty shampoo bottles, cracked storage totes or other clean, used plastic, shred them up, and create something new!
Everyone is welcome to use the machines – whether you are an artist, a maker, a teacher, or a curious community member, you can schedule a demo of the workspace or set up a time to get trained into the space! Recycling can mean more than just putting your plastic in the bin, YOU can create new things from your used plastic.
The Machines
The shredder is always the first machine to use when recycling plastic. It shreds plastic that can then be used in any of the other machines.
The compression oven is used to create small sheets of plastic or molded items like flower pots.
The extruder can be used with a mold to make rods, or without a mold to make a plastic filament that can be made into bowls or baskets.
The injection machine injects melted plastic into molds. We have molds for making a plastic alphabet, jewelry pieces, animal shapes, and different kinds of tiles.
Events/Using the Plastic Lab
Precious Plastic essentially takes plastic recycling to an artisanal level, and using the machines requires training and experience. Before jumping into the workspace, everyone is required to complete a training session to learn how to use the machines safely. If you intend to use the workspace repeatedly, schedule a training with the PIEO. If you are interested in learning about the project, but are not interested in using the Plastic Lab for your own projects, look for standalone workshop opportunities or other events, which will be posted to the Facebook group and the events section of the OTC website.
Earrings made with recycled plastic in the Lakes Area Precious Plastic Lab.
Safety Notice
We are aware that melting plastic creates fumes, and that at high levels, these fumes can be toxic. Safety information is included in each training session, including the use of respiratory protection. For anyone working in the Plastic Lab for long periods of time, we recommend the use of a respirator with carbon filters which can be purchased easily, or we have a small number we provide for repeat visitors. For demonstrations or shorter workshops we try to keep the space open, including to the outside (weather permitting) to ensure adequate airflow so attendees are not exposed to high concentrations of fumes. We also use a negative air pressure fan with an activated carbon filter to remove fumes from the air. In addition, careful attention is paid to proper melting points to prevent burning of plastic which creates more fumes than melting. If attendees are concerned about exposure, anyone may bring a respirator with carbon filters for use during the event. A dust mask or medical mask is not an effective method of protection for plastic fumes. If you would like more information about safety, please contact us.