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Shredder in Kenya
- This topic has 9 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 5 years ago by
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Hi all, I work with a social enterprise called balloon ventures in Kericho, Kenya. We work with small business owners and entrepreneurs in communities in Kenya to help them improve their businesses in a sustainable way and then invite them to pitch for a 50,000KSH (£350) interest free loan.
One of my entrepreneurs is runs a scrap and recycling business and we are helping her increase the volume of plastic she deals with. On top of this she dreams of moving her recycling business further along the recycling process (every step from collecting, to washing, to sorting, to SHREDDING etc. adds value to her customers. She has put a hold on this dream because the shredders (made in China) are too expensive ($20,000). In my efforts to help her I came across this project and it has the potential to change her life!
My aim is to help her expand her business and then pitch in 5 weeks time for the loan to have a pedal/hand power made by local metal workers from local materials. Am I right in saying this is exactly what David had in mind when beginning the project. Where can I find the blueprints for the shredder? Is there a variant for a hand powered version? I will keep you all updated on our progress, of course!
Hi @hectorsmethurst. Moved you into a new topic, other one because quite long. But yes, that is exactly what we have in mind! We would love to have the machines running at other places and clean up plastic. Within 1-2 months the new blueprints will be online + instruction videos of the shredder, hopefully still in time…
@davehakkens thanks for your reply! one month would be in time for sure, two months and i’m less certain! do you have any parts of the blueprints technical drawings finished yet? I would love to start getting quotes from local welders/mechanics (the guys who will be building the machine out here) and anything like that would help us begin would be great – especially the shredding/blade mechanism.
We have some rough unpolished drawings. Personally prefer to send them when they are fully ready. To make sure it all works 100% properly. Give me a couple of weeks and you have everything!
Hi Dave, please send them my way too 🙂 we’ve received the funds and are looking to start production around april-may in professional schools, but we need some info to show to the schools about the materials and requirements of the pieces in preparation for the courses.
thanks
@davehakkens, similarly to @lyricalpolymath I need to get a rough quote before I pitching for the small loan required (pitching starts in 10 days) so while production will be done from the finished drawings, the rough preliminaries would be great to get that initial quote from local “artisans” (the name for engineers out here!)
I understand your reluctance but I hope I have explained the situation well – if you would still rather I wait until the final drawings are done I’m sure I will manage by showing the video you uploaded to the forum! Thanks for all your help so far!
@davehakkens Hi Dave – I am developing a Kickstarter campaign that I think you will appreciate. I hand-process Super 8mm film and I have designed a Processing Tank. I want to pitch for the whole process through Kickstarter (because I have no funds is the main reason – not even to build the shredder). So for me the finished designs plans are not so important right now. What would help me would be an estimation of the cost involved in buying the parts to assemble the shredder. What I have realized is that the Shredder is Step One (after sourcinc the recycled plastic). The cost does not need to be accurate – just approximate. Then I will add some on and put it into my pitch if possible. Thanks – Steve Brodie.
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I’m new to this forum, but pursuing the same general idea. I envision a shredder made from used circular saw blades, manually driven by a bicycle chain in a bicycle-like machine. Old saw blades are quite common in my area (Boston MA), as are discarded bicycles. My first order questions are many: How many blades can be powered by a person? What rpm should they spin? The blades must cut against a stationary surface. Is this surface made from steel?
Any thoughts? – John Busch
Hi @johnbusch we actually made a prototype for this. We made it turn on high-speed. didn’t really works our for us plastic got to hot and to small. Almost..dust. However maybe some fine-tuning could improve it
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