Remastered – A collection of recycled CD’s

Posted on October 19, 2023October 19, 2023 by Nout Kooij

Remastered – A collection of recycled CD’s

Coffee table made from recycled CDs turned into sheet material and 3D-printed legs

Research – Reusing discarded CD’s

When talking about plastic waste, we usually think about plastic packaging and disposable products. In order to reach a fully circular economy however, we will also need to find a solution for strong and longlasting plastic products that have lost their use and become waste. CD’s are a clear example of this. These plastic disks used to have great practical and emotional value, but are now discarded at large scale. We can do something with this material! We have started a collaborative research project with Emmaus thrift stores, Van der Hoevenkliniek, The Good Plastic Company, Cantor and Searious Business in order to find a solution for this valuable waste stream.

Thrift stores still receive large amounts of CD’s on a daily basis. There are 9 Emmaus stores that safe the CD’s that can’t be sold for us to use. These CD’s are brought to Van der Hoevenkliniek, where they are disassembled. The CD’s themselves, the transparant cases, the black or coloured inlays and the paper booklet are separated. The plastic waste streams are shredded in the workshop of Van der Hoevenkliniek. These shredded flakes serve as raw material for vanPlestik’s 3D-printers and The Good Plastic Company’s sheet press. During this project, vanPlestik developed 3 different products that each show the value of this material.

Remastered: 3 products made from recycled CD’s

Wall light from recycled CD cases, made with a 3D-printer

Compact Sun

The first product is Compact Sun. This wall lamp is 3D-printed from recycled CD cases. Small imperfections in the material create a distinctive reflection on the wall.

Read more about Compact Sun in our webshop.

Remastered coffeetable from recycled CDs. 3D-printed legs from CD inlays and a tabletop made from recycled CD cases pressed into a sheet

Clutch Table

In order to make this coffee table, we combined the production techniques of vanPlestik and The Good Plastic Company. The tabletop is made by The Good Plastic Company, using recycled CD cases mixed with CD’s or inlays. There are different styles and colours of table tops available.

The legs of the Clutch Table are made from the black inlays that hold the CD in place. The legs are 3D-printed by vanPlestik

Clutch Table will soon be available in our webshop!

Standing lamp made from recycled CD cases and inlays close-up

Abby lamp

This is just a small sneak-peak of the final product! We are still developing this product, but hope to be able to share more info soon!

This project is a collaboration with Emmaus de Bilt, The Good Plastic Company, Cantor and vanPlestik. The project was supported by Searious Business and partially financed by RvO Circulaire Ketenprojecten.

De Nederlandsche Bank

Posted on November 10, 2022November 10, 2022 by Nout Kooij

De Nederlandsche Bank – From paper tray to plant stand

Plastic waste from moving

In 2020, De Nederlandse Bank moved to a temporary location so that their building at Frederiksplein in Amsterdam could be renovated. During the move, about 200 kilogram of blue paper trays appeared. Normally, this clean and brightly coloured plastic waste would end up in incineration. Luckily DNB found us and we were able to process their plastic waste into new products!

Plastic postbakjes die vrijkwamen door de verhuizing van DNB

Circular product for the office

Moving usually means buying a lot of new things. Therefore, we collaborated with DNB to research which products they would still need to buy. By making one of those products, we could also prevent buying more products made from virgin materials. Eventually we decided to create a flexible solution for the lack of natural walking routes in the foyer of the new building. That’s why we 3D-printed extra high plant stands. These plant stands are now used to indicate walking routes in the open spaced lobby. In this way, the customer service desk is separated from the lobby.

Closing the loop: Plastic waste from moving turned into an interior object

During this project, we have saved over 500 kg of clean and beautifully coloured plastic from incineration! But that’s not all. By using DNB’s own plastic waste, these special plant stands have an even bigger value for De Nederlandse Bank and their employees. This is how we truly close the loop on plastic waste!

Curious what we could do with your plastic waste?

Get in touch with us

Fairphone – From phone case to sustainable stool

Posted on August 2, 2022August 2, 2022 by Nout Kooij

Fairphone – From phone case to sustainable stool

Recycling phone cases

Sustainable phone company Fairphone came to us with a special request: “are you able to recycle phone cases that have pieces of metal and silicones glued onto it?” Yes, we can!

Fairphone was looking for a solution to sustainably process their old phone cases. These specific cases had written Fairphone on the back in metal letters. And there were silicone edges on the inside to protect the phone. Since materials that are glued together are very difficult to separate, no other recycler would accept the phone cases.

Recycling with our 3D-printers

Luckily, our 3D-printers are designed and built especially to be able to process this type of waste stream. By using a thick printline, we simply melt the pieces of metal and silicone into the product. In this way we were able to recycle Fairphone’s phone cases into new seating furniture for in their HQ, and flyer holders to take to events and conventions.

Lumbar loungestoel van gerecyclede telefoonhoesjes

Een kijkje in de keuken bij Fairphone

During this project we closely collaborated with Miquel Ballester, Fairphone’s Circular Innovation Lead. Are you curious about his experience? Read this interview with him!

Finally, there is fun video that shows the entire project. Watch it here!

Are you curious to hear what we can do with your plastic?

Get in touch with us

HEMA – From make-up display to waste bin

Posted on August 2, 2022August 2, 2022 by Nout Kooij

HEMA – From make-up display to waste bin

Make-up displays en versnipperd gerecycled plastic

A unique waste stream

In 2019, all make-up displays in HEMA‘s stores were replaced. Therefore, over 2000 kilo of plastic waste came to surface. The plastic type of these displays (ABS) is rarely recycled in The Netherlands. Since the displays were collected and separated, we were able to still recycle this waste stream. That is why HEMA now has 35 recycling bins at their HQ, made from their own waste!

A different colour for every waste bin

To establish a good waste separation, the bins for the different waste streams should be clearly recognizable. Therefore, we coloured the white plastic with pigment. In this way, we created a green bin for organic waste, a blue one for the coffee cups and a red bin for plastics. Adding pigment does not have any effect on the material. We are therefore still able to recycle this material again!

HEMA rode en witte afvalscheidingsbakken van gerecycled plastic

HEMA logo for a HEMA waste separation bin

These waste separation stations are especially designed and made for HEMA. To show this clearly, we printed the HEMA logo in relief on the side of the white and red bins. In this way, we are able to make these waste separation stations truly HEMA!

Deksel van afvalscheidingsbak HEMA van gerecycled plastic

HEMA’s Innovation Lead about this project

During this project we collaborated closely with HEMA’s Innovation Lead, Fabeel Butt. Are you curious about his take on our collaboration? Read the interview here!