UNBC Partners with Northern BC Maker Collective and Precious Plastics!
This year, we're excited to announce our partnership with the Northern BC Maker Collective and Precious Plastics. Together, we're making a community maker space located in Prince George. A Maker Space encourages community makers of all kinds to make to the fullest extent of their imagination. We will host a wide variety of equipment, resources, tools, and recycling equipment. Our plastics maker space can transform local plastic waste into a wide variety of usable products.
Why This Matters
Why is it important that UNBC Sustainability has partnered with the Northern BC Maker's Collective?
- Addresses plastic pollution by providing a community response that recycles our plastic and turns it into a product that we want to see
- Plastic isn't just garbage, it's a resource with endless possibilities
- A community hub for creatives and makers and passionate people
- Making a culture of creativity and innovation
When the community comes together to make something, there is no limit to what we can do or make.
How to Recycle Precious Plastics
How to Recycle Precious Plastics
Each type of plastic has an associated number, which is the plastic's resin type. It is the number that is related to every kind of plastic. On the bottom of everyday plastic items, there will typically be a number within the recycle symbol indicating which type of plastic it is. The number will commonly be between 1 and 7. Knowing the number is important because it helps us understand how to recycle more effectively and what can be done with the plastic once it is recycled. In the case of the plastics maker space, it is essential because each plastic type has its own properties. Thus, to effectively recycle the plastic into something usable, we need to know which resin type we are dealing with accurately.
Since plastics react differently and have various uses, we can only collect specific types that are conducive to our process. As we are new to this and still learning every day, we're currently collecting only two types of plastics. We are collecting clean HDPE #2 and clean PP#5 plastics. These are the simplest and safest plastics that we can collect and still make incredible items. They are also common plastics that we can divert from the landfill without diverting from other effective recycling systems.
Above is a simple infographic highlighting the process of recycling precious plastics at UNBC. If you or your department is interested in participating in the collection of HDPE #2 or PP#5 plastics for the Plastics Maker Space, please visit the "Get Involved" section to become a future collection point! The UNBC Sustainability Team can help you do so.
Goals
Goals
The goal of establishing a micro recycling facility within the community of Prince George is to divert as much plastics as possible that is currently not being recycled from the landfill. We aim to create products that use these hydrocarbons to sequester carbon for long periods of time in products that benefit the community and the environment.
We have a goal of fostering a culture of innovation and creativity within the community of Prince George and at UNBC. Climate Change is an issue that looms in many of our minds. We hope the Plastics Maker Space can be an inspiring location that fosters a desire to create and test the limits of our imagination. To divert landfill waste and turn it into a product that benefits us all. The goal is to learn that, as a community, we makers can make anything, and no medium is beyond use. Remember Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!
At UNBC, we have a goal of diverting 70% of our waste from the landfill by 2035. The partnership between UNBC Sustainability and The Northern BC Maker Collective helps us achieve our goal. The plastics UNBC supplies to the Plastics Maker Space are currently unrecycled plastics that are being diverted from the landfill, helping us achieve our goal of 70% waste diversion by 2035. Helping us live up to our name of Canada's Green University!
How You Can Get Involved
How You Can Get Involved
We would love your participation, there are multiple ways you can get involved. Interested in being a maker Join the Northern BC Maker Collective and gain access to the library of wisdom, equipment, and mentorship to create to your hearts desire.
Want to learn more about plastics recycling, or how we can recycle plastic on a small scale and turn it into new plastic products? Check out Precious Plastic.
Want to sign up to be a participant and provide plastics to the maker space? Contact the UNBC Sustainability team at Sustainability@unbc.ca and we will discuss the possibilities.
