This article was taken from the December 2012 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by <span class="s1">subscribing online.
Polyfloss is the new way to reduce waste by recycling plastic on a small scale. "The most difficult things to make from plastic are sponge-like or foam-like," says Nick Paget, 30, an industrial designer at the Royal College of Art in London. "Eventually we asked: what about candyfloss?"
Paget and a group of students set about building a "candyfloss" machine to transform waste polypropylene plastic objects into versatile Polyfloss. Small chips of plastic are fed into a rotating oven surrounded by a harvesting drum. The centrifugal force of the spinning machine whips the melting chips into floss, a low-density material that can then be easily re-melted and re-cast.
Alternatively, select areas can be treated to create an object with a solid exterior and foam-like core, useful for packaging and insulation. To demonstrate, Polyfloss Factory asked Microsoft to donate some old Xbox game-cases, which were turned into a Wired logo. The group is now building a bigger machine aimed at processing corporate waste. Large-scale success will be sweet.
Spin your own masthead - Find some plastic objects you no longer need -- old keyboards, dustbins, trays or DVD cases, for example. - Break the plastic down into small chips that can then be fed into the "candyfloss" machine. - Gather the melted fibres as they are spun out through small metal holes in the drum. - Re-melt the "floss" and mould into something new -- such as the logo of your favourite magazine. - The Polyfloss Factory (left to right) is Nicholas Paget, Emile De Visscher, Audrey Gaulard and Christophe Machet.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
