Education students devise plastic recycling campaign at the UAB Open Labs
Students of the Laboratory and Virtuality in Primary Education subject of the degree in Education Studies, in collaboration with the UAB Open Labs, has created the campaign Pla’t pel canvi to foster the recycling of plant-based plastic on campus.
11/01/2021
Polylactic acid or PLA is a plant-based plastic used to manufacture single-use packagings, and is one of the materials most used in 3D printing. Although it is biodegradable in controlled industrial conditions, and thermoformable, i.e., it can be recycled by melting it and transforming it into another product, today's separate collection systems do not contemplate the possibility of reusing this material.
The UAB Open Labs is aimed on working towards a circular campus, in which the waste generated can be transformed and reused. With this in mind, the Design Lab, located at the School of Engineering, has a plastic shredder and a filament extruder to melt the waste generated by 3D printing, and later turn it into raw material for new objects to be printed.
Students of the bachelor's degree in Education Studies, with the collaboration of the UAB Open Labs, have designed informative material and separate collection bins for PLA, which they have placed around the campus. When using these bins, any other types of plastics which are not PLA, such as ABS, TBU or PA, must be put in a sealed bag and labelled with the name of the corresponding type of plastic. Plastic residue can also be taken directly to the Design Lab.
The UAB Open Labs would like everyone to share this campaign on different social networks, using the hashtag #UABOpenLabs, whenever actions involving the recycling or reuse of plastics are carried out on campus.