How to Run | PLA Recycling Workshop

This is a step-by-step of how to organise and run your own PLA recycling workshop.

Recycling PLA (or other suitable plastics) is a fun, experimental and creative way to introduce participants to the process of recycling plastics, and its potential and limitations.

This workshop is intended as a fun introduction to working experimentally. It is recommended that the person running the workshop has had a go at the process so that they can offer examples, helpful tips and suggestions that help the participants get the most out of the workshop.

Importantly, there should be no right or wrong way for participants to be involved with the workshop. This is not an exercise in following a recipe, on the contrary, participant are encourage to try out novel ideas and seek out unknown results.

To prepare for running this workshop it is good to:

Do some research. We looked at:

• Other DIY plastic recycling videos, like this one by YouTubers Brothers Make, or this by Gareth Owen Lloyd, to understand similar processes and some of the equipment required.
• Craft processes for participants to produce something useful from the recycled PLA. We looked at jewellery, keyring and badge making.
• The science behind plastics and the wider plastic recycling process so that additional context can be provided during the workshop.

Collect some materials. In our case, we produce or own PLA waste but we also collected waste from local 3D printing manufacturers.

Prepare your materials. You'll need separate your material by colour, make sure you remove anything that might contaminate it and shred it. This needs to be done in advance as it is a long process and their isn't time in the workshop.

Additionally, if possible, it is good to be able to run a small practice event in your space to get a better idea of the process, the workflow and how it will work best in the environment you have available.

The aim when organising the workshop environment is to create somewhere that is safe for participants to be involved in the workshop, is easy for you to run the workshop and helps to promote the experimental process of the workshop.

This is achieved by organising the physical environment, and also the prep done before the workshop, the introducing given at the beginning and the support and encouragement that participants receive throughout the workshop.

The following are our tips to promote the experimental process of the workshop:

• Do your research

Know the process so that you are able to give a concise introduction so that participants know what to expect.

• Admit when you don't know

You might be asked questions the you didn't anticipate or don't know the answer too. In these instances it is good to own it and revel in the unknown, especially in regards to the outcomes of something experimental.

• Be able to offer a starting point

Participants should be encouraged to get stuck in as quick as possible and it can help to offer a bit of initial direction. This could be some of your own experiments and how you achieved certain results. Or show samples of what. the different colours look like and scents smell like. The highly concentrated scents smell very different in the the soap compared to from the bottle.

• Be ambiguous

You will be asked "what happens if I do this?", "is this a good idea?" Try to answer these kinds of questions with ambiguous language, aim for "it might" rather than "it will/will not".

• Space to collaborate

Have to participants work on one large table with the ingredients in the middle. This allows them to see what each other are doing, share their ideas and experiments, and inspire each other.

The following is how we partitioned the physical environment into working areas.:

• Collection and arranging of the PLA

Participants will need to collect small sheets of ovenproof paper to arrange the plastic on. Have the shredded plastic separated by colour into individual containers and provide a way for participants to take small amounts without causing contamination of the different colours.

• Melting

For safety it is important that there is a specific area where the melting of the PLA is done, and that the participants are aware of where it is. We had 3 sandwich presses with each one being used by 3 participants. We left it to participants to use these safely and fairly but depending on age, you may need to offer assistance.

• Cooling

Space is required to set the melted sheets aside to cool and harden. It generally takes a matter of minutes but it is good for people to know where things might be hot and where they can keep their creations organised. You can also provide something that allows the sheets to remain under even pressure to be sure they cool flat and smooth.

• CAD and Laser cutting

This is optional depending on what is possible within your environment. We have laser cutters here that attract a lot of attention so we offered participants the ability to laser cut shapes into their PLA sheets. This was very popular and required someone to supervise for the duration of the workshop to help with adjustments to CAD files and the use of the laser cutter. Depending on the participants and their abilities with relevant software it is advisable to offer a limited number of predetermined shapes as a ready to use file to keep this process streamlined.

• Finishing

This space is for participant to finish off their creations however they want. Again, this can vary between workshops but the space is likely to be the same. It is useful to have cutting boards, craft knifes and space for waste to be collected. In our event we had keyrings, earring hooks and badge backs. This required the addition of a small drill for creating holes and some strong glue.

As previously mentioned. It is worth running a small test event to discover exactly how the workshop best runs in your environment.

These are the types of things that you may require to run the workshop. This is what we required for a workshop of 10 people:

Ingredients:

• Shredded PLA (or other suitable plastics) of many colours

Equipment:

• a smoothie maker style blender
• 3 flat electric sandwich presses
• A role of ovenproof paper cut into roughly A5 size
• small plastic cups for participants to collect and arrange their material
• cutting boards
• craft knifes
• a small drill
• quick drying super glue
• 25 keyrings
• 25 pairs of earing hooks
• 25 badge back pins

These are the steps taken in the setup, running and clear down of the event:

Setup:

• Do the research. Watch some videos, read some blogs and visit some soap shops.
• Buy some of the stuff for a test event. Consider the minimum amount of equipment that you could get to do a simplified version for yourself and one other person while still getting an adequate idea of the process.
• Collect, sperate and shred material.
• Run a test event. Take note of what went well and what caused problems, think how these might change when scaled up with more participants. Ideally do the event with someone that knows nothing so that they can feedback from a participants point of view.
• Re-adjust your shopping list and buy the rest of the stuff. Again, think about what was used in the test event and how more participants will effect this. From experience, the increase in equipment used is not linear.
• Have examples of some of your experiments for participants to look at and be inspired by.
• Lay out all the materials, examples and equipment participants might need in the centre of the table.
• Welcome in your participants and explain the purpose of the workshop and what they can expect. Explain each step of the process and guide them to take a look at the examples and ingredients.
• On the day do a quick demo of the plastic being shredded, arranged and placed in the sandwich press. This is a good opportunity to describe the process, the inspiration and the inherent opportunities and limitations when working with recycled materials. If done well you should be able to remove the melted example sheet just before they're ready to start.
• Give them time to plan what they want to do and collect up the materials.
• Offer some assistance getting the first batch into and out of the the sandwich presses.
• When the first batch of sheets are cool begin to suggest some participants might want to move to further stages such as laser cutting or finishing.
• Be on hand to assist with drilling or cutting.
• Be aware of what stage different participants are at. People have different working styles, some might race through the workshop, while others might dwell on a certain stage and not leave themselves enough time to complete the workshop.