New Clear Recycling
HOW IT STARTED
At JunkLabz we recognize the value that seemingly invaluable materials such as e-waste and recyclable plastic disposed of by UVA has, and refine the “junk” into valuable material so that it can be reinvested back into the community. This is all in an effort to improve the sustainable function of UVA and Charlottesville through educational opportunities, creative design, and local solutions.
JunkLabz operations consist of shredding and recycling plastic from UVA to create processes of plastic recycling that are currently unavailable in Charlottesville. For the past year we have collected plastic and e-waste from multiple outlets in Charlottesville including UVA, the UVA Hospital, and local thrift stores sending excess electronics to landfills. With an abundance of material we had to be quick to think of innovative ways to restore value to what we had come in by reusing, repurposing, or recycling. This started with our Printers4Kids project, where we disassembled printers to collect DC motors and other valuable electronic parts to create wind turbine kits for local schools. With our success making and distributing wind turbines, we quickly became eager to investigate other recycling streams. This was when JunkLabz was truly born and we started investing into plastic recycling infrastructure.
OUR PROCESS
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Say hello to our little friends...
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Using the Citizen Scientific Workshop V4 Shredder Pro built off of precious plastic schematics, we are able to shred 10-50kg/hr of plastic sorted by type and shredded to a fine quality. This processed material can then be turned into 3D printing filament, plastic bricks, and products.
Using the Filabot extrusion system, shredded plastic is funneled into a heater that spits out a cylinder of plastic that is pulled by the spooler. While it is pulled, an airpath helps cool and normalize the width of the plastic. The end product is a spool of 3D printing filament. This system allows us to recycle a variety of shredded plastics!
EXTRUDER XXX
The shredded plastic can also be pumped into small molds using our injection molder. These small molds can create plastic tiles or other small plastic figures. On a larger scale, a sheet press can be used to press melted plastic into large sheets or planks to be used for construction such as benches, ramps, play sets, etc. (Sheet Press Coming soon!)
PLASTIC CHANNELS
Excess material (Sunlu Silk PLA) from 3D printing the P4K wind turbine kits was one of the first materials we used for shredding and extrusion!