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Thank you. I do wonder what a small business process and product would look like if it was (a) made closer to the source of bottles, ie not offshore, and (b) n

Thank you. I do wonder what a small business process and product would look like if it was (a) made closer to the source of bottles, ie not offshore, and (b) not a garment but something else useful. The garment industry is highly unscalable and labor intensive so it's probably out of the question for a first world startup. But maybe some other household article, like sandals or furniture.

ineedasername 7y ago
The scalability issue may soon have some help, certainly not for all garments but for some. [0] Thought bath towels and t-shirts are progress, it will take quite some work to generalize to a wider range of items. [0] https://www.fastcompany.com/40454692/this-t-shirt-sewing-robot-could-radically-shift-the-apparel-industry https://www.fastcompany.com/40454692/this-t-shirt-sewing-rob...
TaylorAlexander 7y ago
I'm learning how to make 3d printed robots with useful printed gears etc. My hope is that in the future I can use recycled materials. The PETG I print with is the PET most bottles are made out of, plus the addition of glycol which I believe makes it tougher. However making PETG from PET bottles, assuming it is even possible, does not seem like the best way to reuse plastics. I have wondered if you could make building wall panels by dumping a bunch of used plastic bottles in a press and using heat and pressure to fuse them together without ever chopping them or doing any chemical reprocessing. I've also seen a company that sells a machine to reprocess used plastic bottles in to plastic bricks. Using old plastic as a building material sounds really interesting to me.
- imglorp 7y ago
  Something like that is possible with plastic milk jugs. Just apply heat and you end up with something like taffy that can be molded. Maybe wall panels (with some filler like sawdust?) are feasible? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdKmq7Kjt0I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdKmq7Kjt0I
  - cwkoss 7y ago
    Milk jugs are usually HDPE, which is much more easily recyclable.

ineedasername 7y ago

The scalability issue may soon have some help, certainly not for all garments but for some. [0] Thought bath towels and t-shirts are progress, it will take quite some work to generalize to a wider range of items. [0] https://www.fastcompany.com/40454692/this-t-shirt-sewing-robot-could-radically-shift-the-apparel-industry https://www.fastcompany.com/40454692/this-t-shirt-sewing-rob...

TaylorAlexander 7y ago

I'm learning how to make 3d printed robots with useful printed gears etc. My hope is that in the future I can use recycled materials. The PETG I print with is the PET most bottles are made out of, plus the addition of glycol which I believe makes it tougher. However making PETG from PET bottles, assuming it is even possible, does not seem like the best way to reuse plastics. I have wondered if you could make building wall panels by dumping a bunch of used plastic bottles in a press and using heat and pressure to fuse them together without ever chopping them or doing any chemical reprocessing. I've also seen a company that sells a machine to reprocess used plastic bottles in to plastic bricks. Using old plastic as a building material sounds really interesting to me.

imglorp 7y ago
Something like that is possible with plastic milk jugs. Just apply heat and you end up with something like taffy that can be molded. Maybe wall panels (with some filler like sawdust?) are feasible? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdKmq7Kjt0I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdKmq7Kjt0I
- cwkoss 7y ago
  Milk jugs are usually HDPE, which is much more easily recyclable.