Bioplastics manufacturer Purac has sponsored a project to highlight how easily poly lactic acid (PLA) bioplastic can be recycled. The Perpetual Plastic Project has successfully created a do-it-yourself 'machine', which provides users with a small-scale demonstration of how easily PLA can be recycled: following the steps of cleaning, drying, shredding, melting and extrusion, before finally being remade into a new article. In this case, a 3D printer was used to create jewellery and small toys from used PLA cups. François de Bie, marketing director for Purac, said: "This initiative demonstrates in a tangible, understandable way just how easily PLA can be recycled. Although PLA is still a relatively new material to the plastics industry, it promises to become widely implemented throughout a broad range of applications. “It is therefore vital that we already start to think about how best to recycle these valuable materials. Thanks to the Perpetual Plastics Project, we can show people at events and festivals what can ultimately be achieved on a much larger scale.” The machine is currently touring events in the Netherlands including the Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven, the Nemo science centre in Amsterdam and the National Sustainability Congress in Nieuwegein.
