This Company Turns Plastic Waste Into Skateboards | UpcycleThis
- 2 years ago
These brothers-in-law collect plastic waste and turn it into gnarly skateboards.
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Why are bottle caps such a problem? Why are they so hard to recycle normally? Plastic bottle caps were the 4th most collected piece of litter during the 2020 international coastal cleanup day. In 2019 Mark and Wyatt started the backcountry swell and came up with a solution that helps keep those caps and other plastic waste out of landfills. They turn them into skateboards.
Each skateboard produced by The Backcountry Swell requires a little over 2 pounds of plastic. That’s roughly 150 bottle caps per board or over 2000 straws that no longer pollute the planet. Once they’ve collected enough, any dirty plastic is cleaned and then all of it is run through a small shredder to turn them into little plastic chips. Those small chips are then melted and run by another heating element through an extrusion machine and into a mold. After it’s had a chance to cool down the mold is removed, excess plastic is cut off, and you’ve got your deck. Then all it takes is some trucks and wheels and you’re off. And according to Wyatt, that whole process only takes about 45 minutes. Watch the video to learn more.
#Skateboards #Skateboarding #Plastic #UpcycleThis #Earth #Environment #Science #NowThis
» Sign up for our newsletter KnowThis to get the biggest stories of the day delivered straight to your inbox: https://go.nowth.is/knowthis_youtube
» Subscribe to NowThis Earth: https://go.nowth.is/Earth_Subscribe
Why are bottle caps such a problem? Why are they so hard to recycle normally? Plastic bottle caps were the 4th most collected piece of litter during the 2020 international coastal cleanup day. In 2019 Mark and Wyatt started the backcountry swell and came up with a solution that helps keep those caps and other plastic waste out of landfills. They turn them into skateboards.
Each skateboard produced by The Backcountry Swell requires a little over 2 pounds of plastic. That’s roughly 150 bottle caps per board or over 2000 straws that no longer pollute the planet. Once they’ve collected enough, any dirty plastic is cleaned and then all of it is run through a small shredder to turn them into little plastic chips. Those small chips are then melted and run by another heating element through an extrusion machine and into a mold. After it’s had a chance to cool down the mold is removed, excess plastic is cut off, and you’ve got your deck. Then all it takes is some trucks and wheels and you’re off. And according to Wyatt, that whole process only takes about 45 minutes. Watch the video to learn more.
#Skateboards #Skateboarding #Plastic #UpcycleThis #Earth #Environment #Science #NowThis