How we stopped being the bottleneck

Plastic waste is a problem globally, so we need solutions that work in every corner of the world. We made a start in our headquarters, but knew that many more people were needed to come up with ideas that would work in other places. So we build a platform for everyone to share knowledge and learn from one other.

From the start, we wanted Precious Plastic to be open-source: free knowledge anyone could use. So we built a simple website to publish the machine designs and tutorials.

It was helping people. But it had one limit, and the limit was us.

More and more people were downloading the plans. More and more wanted to start, all over the world. And we were a handful of volunteers. There was no way we could answer every question, let alone quickly. And we were not experts in the specific environments that each person was operating in.

For instance, in Netherlands (our HQ), we wouldn't develop a technique to melt plastic with sun energy as we don't have enough, but in a different environment that can be figured out.

So we built a platform that let everyone take what they knew, and share it.

We made a community website where anyone can join, share ideas, ask questions and connect with recyclers around the world. Not us handing down lessons anymore, but everyone working together, in real time. It’s organized into these sections:

The Academy. Where you learn the basics: how plastic works, how to build the machines, how to turn recycling into a working business.

The Library. This is where you share your unique projects and discoveries. It’s the biggest open-source library of plastic recycling knowledge there is.

The Research module. If you are testing something that is still rough, you can post it here. Maybe it inspires someone, maybe someone helps you finish it.

The Map. Where community members map their workspaces. Use it to find people near you, meet up, get machines or sorted material. There are around 1.200 groups on the map today.

The Questions page. Ask a specific technical question and get answers from a community full of people who have already solved it.

As of June 2026 there are nearly 1.200 registered Precious Plastic actors on the map, over 250 entries in the library, and people talking to each other on the platform every day.

Ideas now travel across continents, including to places that are remote or short on resources. The 2024 Impact Report counts recyclers in 56 different countries, around 30% of every country on Earth, from the Himalayas of Nepal to Kenya to Chile.

What started as one person's graduation project is now the largest open-source plastic recycling movement there is. It keeps growing because it is no longer Dave sharing the ideas. It is ideas moving between strangers with a few clicks, all free. On the platform, a new recycler can learn from a machine builder in the Philippines, take product inspiration from Costa Rica, and post their own research for the next person to find.

Plastic waste turns up everywhere, in every climate and setting, so it needs a wide range of answers. We can start things off, but we will never be the right solution for every place. We need people everywhere to hack, improve and invent, and then share what they find. That is what the platform is for.