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What construction materials to make?

  • This topic has 7 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 3 years ago by Anonymous.
Thierry internationaldevelopmentproject

What construction materials to make?

15/06/2018 at 17:13

Hello everyone, my name is Thierry and im part of a group of five students from the University of Amsterdam. We are working with a small foundation on a project in West Papua where we want to create a closed plastic waste system.

Our main focus will be to:
– search for partners in the area that use plastic.
– set up a good plastic waste collection system.
– find workers for the plant on whom we can rely. We will focus on women workers, because they are more reliable.
– raise awareness among the local people. We will visit schools and organise meetings with people that are involved with waste management in the area.
– see if there are expensive construction materials that can be made of the recycled plastic, so the plastic can actually stay on the island and become a part of a closed system.

Question: We’d really like your input on what products we should focus on. We know that the biggest part of the recycled plastics are not fit to use in materials that are used for food or drinking, because the plastic might release toxins.

That’s why we want to know what possibilities there are for all the construction materials that we could make. Or maybe you have any other ideas besides construction materials.

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15/06/2018 at 17:37

you just hit the red button on the real purpose of PP question!

however depending on the machinery you have, you could start with small objects, having no idea really, that are my favorites right now:

– separate plastic insulation slicks for electricians, that are slicks to pull multiple cables through. this things can get really expensive, 4 euro the meter and more. but i am not sure about the material and quality really needed here. what’s nice is that the production (extrusion) can run 24/7 full automatic.

– stock plastic (bars and cylinders), not sure about this, because looking at the fees & capacities we have with the current machines, it’s insane hard to compete with ebay offers.

– 3d printer filament, you need to be extreme good with what you are doing to sell and compete. see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RigJNWbyzhQ, and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEkksADFjP8

– smaller items, consumables like screw caps, or screw fittings (used by many home builders), but here too, it’s long and hard process to get a mold for mass productions.

larger items, require usually insane amounts of cash to get certification and licenses, they gonna eat you!

g

warrior
15/06/2018 at 17:57

Hi @internationaldevelopmentproject
Question: 

We’d really like your input on what products we should focus on.

I think you are hitting the most important question here.

Though @timhardex may be pessimist about all the PP machines+products, the most important thing to work on is the business plan.

Not from the netherlands where you are at the !oment, but in west papua, taking in consideration how the local economy works over there (is it poor? developped? touristic? are there recycling solution overthere already?)

As it has been underlined in many threads, you cannot “copy” a business plan which works somewhere and “paste” it in any other place of the globe.

This work has to be done in very close connection with the ONG and the locals of West Papua, taking in consideration their culture and heritage.

If there is one direction i wouldn’t suggest you to go : small disposable objects. You don’t want the product you create to be tossed and added to the waste in the following 5+ years

Hope it helpd out a bit

ps : why ” find workers for the plant on whom we can rely. We will focus on women workers, because they are more reliable” ? are you talking by experience ? it’s a harsch generalization you are making there

Peace!

15/06/2018 at 18:18

@imuh is damn right about the deadly small object sizes, my concern was rather to get him started, since the machinery dictates pretty much everything and smaller & precious things might get you quicker to something though. the larger you go, the more time and machines & cash you need! you can make mistakes with small stuff, not too much with larger items.

g

15/06/2018 at 18:28

another thing is actually being able to develop & test product ideas. i’m still not finish with my workshop documentation (fees/prices,…) but i can tell you, to get the more basic machines(lathe, CNC, power tools), tooling, measure instruments, oven, supplies…. you can count here in the EU on at least 10000 Euro (DIY and second machines, and another 6 months of hard work to get all together and properly working). Only then you’re actually able to build the machines you actually need to make products at all. it’s a the first investment and lowers the barrier to final & successful products extremely, otherwise you will depend up 60% on external services and supplies…..and you keep paying 300% of the official market prices.

15/06/2018 at 19:15

@imuh, the reason for being pessimistic is easy: the entire process being involved is way too much hidden here, making it look like walk through disney land whilst in reality it takes months to get all setup and build. hiding environmental and human resources efforts is typical for capitalism, it’s literally removed from any classic and modern economic and business teachings. to give you an idea: to build the machines: 40% waste on materials and using non professional tools you loose another 50% of your workforce efficiency, the amount of wasted kw hours is also sky rocketing, to me, really signs to get back to drawing board and think through everything again 🙂

new
15/06/2018 at 19:42

@Timhardex @imuh, thanks for your input!

Though @timhardex may be pessimist about all the PP machines+products, the most important thing to work on is the business plan.

Not from the netherlands where you are at the !oment, but in west papua, taking in consideration how the local economy works over there (is it poor? developped? touristic? are there recycling solution overthere already?)

We are working on a report right now where we try to explain the fundamentals of waste management systems in developing countries as a preparation for our business plan in papua. Mid July we will actually go there to meet and interview people and do some field research. At the end of this trip we hope to have a nice business plan for a recycling plant in Sorong. This will be lead by someone that is connected to the foundation we’re working with.

West Papua is rich in natural resources, but the people that live there are very poor. The area is developing quickly due to subsidies from the Indonesian government. It is not very touristic, although it might be in the future. There have been recycling initiatives, but not successful.

The machinery will be acquired after we’ve finished the businessplan. We will use the businessplan the attract funding from investors in the Netherlands. The funding amount we had in mind was between €50.000-€100.000. Would this enough to produce bigger objects?

ps : why ” find workers for the plant on whom we can rely. We will focus on women workers, because they are more reliable” ? are you talking by experience ? it’s a harsch generalization you are making there.

I understand your reaction, but we did several interviews with people that also did projects in developing countries and they advised us to focus on women. Of course there were cases where men did an excellent job. But our contact in West Papua (whom eventually will run the plant) also has the same experience.

15/06/2018 at 19:55

30.000 minimum for the recycling machinery, i elaborated realistic numbers here, and it’s still low end-machinery, there is another column “industrial shredder/extrusion” ending up in 30.000 – 40.000 (requires still somebody who can build all together). For 10 – 20.000 you should get normal shop equipment (which you need anyways, lathe, mill or cnc) because trust me, there is no cheating or tricks here, tricks are for the kids 🙂
the other 50.000 you will need on fees, labor and plain survival until you start selling.

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