Tops Off
Plastic/Rubber - Toowoomba, QLD, AU
Tops Off Employees
Tops Off Senior Management
Tops Off Details
For animals, plastics are turning the ocean into a minefield and creatures worldwide are dying from material we made. 91% of us use yellow bins to recycle waste yet only 10% of the plastic produced in Australia is recycled.Bottle tops are not being recycled and are being thrown into the tip and ending up in our waterways. Most plastic bottle cap lids are made from HDPE plastic which is a strong, UV resistant plastic and is actually 40% of all plastics produced in the world. All this high quality plastic is going to landfill or straight to our waterways. The growth in green consumers has been astronomical with a market size in 2014 of over $35 billion compared to only $3.4 billion in 1997. Consumers now care more now than ever about green industry but they are not willing to support organisations that fake it.We want to go and fetch these bottle tops, wash them, chip them and extrude them into high quality 3D printing filament. Initially we will raise funds through the Containers for Change initiative and apply for government grants for equipment and warehouse space. We will work with the university to conduct R&D to ensure we produce a high-quality filament. Our early adopters such as the makerspace from USQ, include 3D printer hubs, hobbyist and prototyping communities who will purchase our products through our local hub and ecommerce store. Longer term we will produce plastic rods and pellets and we will work with local industry to substitute recycled plastic into their products such as Pipes, Roads, Parklands and fencing. We will have the capability to recycle all plastics not just bottlecaps. We will then use profits to help other communities set up their hubs locally and in other countries resulting in innovative local recycling initiatives and support for circular economies. Together with these hubs we will be part of a global plastic solution rather than staying part of the problem.
