Tackling plastic waste, democratizing skateboarding & proving to people what products made from waste can do, through the open source production of the worlds first traditional popsicle shaped recycled plastic skateboard decks.
Cross-border/international
Finland
France
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Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland
Nantes, Pays de la Loire, France
It addresses urban-rural linkages
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)
No
No
As a representative of an organisation
Name of the organisation(s): RPSD Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation First name of representative: Jason Last name of representative: Knight Age: 28 Please attach a copy of your national ID/residence card:
By ticking this box, I certify that the information regarding my age is factually correct. : Yes Gender: Male Nationality: United Kingdom Function: Founder & CEO Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Hakolahdentie 5 A 10 00200 Town: Helsinki Postal code: 00200 Country: Finland Direct Tel:+44 7788 732713 E-mail:project@rpsd.earth Website:https://rpsd.earth
URL:https://linktr.ee/projectRPSD Social media handle and associated hashtag(s): projectRPSD #rpsd #projectrpsd #mandin #collective #project #recycled #plastic #skateboard #deck
URL:https://linktr.ee/projectRPSD Social media handle and associated hashtag(s): projectRPSD #rpsd #projectrpsd #mandin #collective #project #recycled #plastic #skateboard #deck
URL:https://instagram.com/projectrpsd/ Social media handle and associated hashtag(s): @projectRPSD #rpsd #projectrpsd #mandin #collective #project #recycled #plastic #skateboard #deck
URL:https://linkedin.com/company/projectrpsd Social media handle and associated hashtag(s): projectRPSD #rpsd #projectrpsd #mandin #collective #project #recycled #plastic #skateboard #deck
URL:https://www.youtube.com/@projectRPSD Social media handle and associated hashtag(s): @projectRPSD #rpsd #projectrpsd #mandin #collective #project #recycled #plastic #skateboard #deck
Tackling plastic waste, democratizing access to skateboarding & proving to people what products made from waste can really do through the production of recycled plastic skateboard decks.
This is achieved by pioneering plastic recycling research, which we publish online, open source, for free. Then providing support in the form of consultancy, hands-on help, and eventually funding, to help people set up their own recycled plastic skateboard deck workspaces.
Documentation of peripheral machines exists and is familiar to 1000s of people globally. In addition to newcomers, there is an expansive network to integrate with.
Decks are a holistically considered choice, mainly because:
• They Demonstrate Comprehensively
The first thing people most commonly notice about products made from recycled plastic is the aesthetic beauty of their appearance. What is often overlooked is their strength and durability. Skateboard decks demonstrate both of these qualities.
• They are Rewarding
Recycling systems are opaque. Waste is collected and processed without knowing the details or receiving a direct reward. Decks are a tangible, fun and healthy reward.
• The Ease of manufacture
The more complex a product is, the harder it is to make. Decks are a relatively simple shape.
Summary of our Impact:
• Environmental
Reduce pollution
Reduced deforestation
Less CO2 emission by local production
• Social
Democratize access to skating. Making decks from waste reduces the cost
More people are able to participate in sports which brings health and social benefits
• Economic
Create and stimulate small localized circular plastic recycling economies
Create sustainable jobs
• Emotive
Change perspectives on plastic to see it as strong and useful
Provide people with a reward for recycling
Associate recycling with positive emotional experiences.
The next steps are pilot projects, demonstrations, publications, further research and project consultancy.
Plastic recycling
Democratization
Open source research
Sports acessability
Community inclusion
Increase the amount of plastic recuperated from waste streams, and hence prevent it from turning into pollution. Every year we produce over 350 million tons of new plastic. Since its invention, over 9 billion tons of new plastic have been produced. More than 90% is recyclable but less than 10% actually gets recycled. This means that there are over 6 billion tons of plastic waste in the world right now, ready to be collected and recycled. This plastic ends up in the food, water, and air that all living things on our planet.
Traditionally, skateboard decks are made from Canadian Maple Plywood and are the single biggest contributor to their deforestation. Making decks from alternative materials, like recycled plastic, reduce deforestation which increases the number of trees and hence CO2 extracted from the environment.
Waste reduction through circularity. Traditional decks are complied of a glue and wood composite meaning they are impossible to separate at the end of consumer life. RPSDs decks are made from a single recycled, marked and recyclable material, allowing them to be easily managed at the end of their consumer life and to be re-circulated. End-of-life management is eased by the fact that they are relatively large objects, unlike bottle caps or straws.
Less CO2 emissions and strain on transportation systems by RPSDs localized production of skateboard decks. Previously more than 90% of traditional wooden decks were made in North America and China and distributed globally with a large carbon footprint. Localised production of decks using, our smaller-scale accessible manufacturing equipment, allows decks to be produced much more locally with less transportation emissions.
Skateboarding is a green mode of transport. Increasing the number of skateboards and expanding their accessibility allows more people to travel by skateboard. This is significantly less carbon-intensive way than motorised alternatives such as cars, e-scooters, busses and trains.
RPSD is stimulating a perspective change in how people view and interact with plastic waste, from seeing it as waste to seeing it as a valuable resource. Recycled objects often carry a stigma that they are of sub-standard quality because they are made from waste materials. We want to directly challenge and disprove this stigma. Their perspective change happens through first or third person interaction with the object. When people use a deck or see one in use, they see a thin slither of material being jumped on, used for tricks and treated roughly. On recognizing that it is made from recycled material, they are, either consciously or subconsciously communicated that the material is strong and can be used for serious applications. Products made from recycled plastic have an intrinsic aesthetic beauty, but we want to take it further than that and prove that its beauty is also in its ability to create strong products that are both beautiful aesthetically and in terms of how it can be used. The act of the product being used is as beautiful as its aesthetically pleasing appearance, both in their respectively unique ways.
We also want to change how people interact with recycling on an emotive level, changing the relationship people have with the act of recycling, through interaction design. In most social circumstances recycling is considered a chore, and not something that people desire to do, but only do out of their finite capacity for goodwill, which often results in recycling simply not happening. RPSD creates an association between recycling and positive emotions, by making recycling a fun, playful and creative experience. Often recycling systems are opaque to users, we put our waste into a collection bin, it disappears and we don't think about it again or get a direct reward. We give people a direct, and desirable reward, catalysing them to recycle.
Deck production is achieved by pioneering plastic recycling research, which we publish online, open source, for free, supported in the form of consultancy, hands-on help, and funding, to help people set up their own recycled plastic skateboard deck workspaces. The focus of our research has been on the development and use of the mould for skateboard decks.
The mould has been designed to be accessible, with an adjustable height table, ergonomic quick-release handle, suspension, and backlit control panel for easy operation. It includes an emergency alarm and warning stickering to ensure safe operation. The mould has been designed to be long-lasting, with anticipated minimum cycle of 10,000 decks before the end of its life.
RPSD is democratizing access to skateboarding. Skate culture remains out of reach to many due to their economic situation and hence lack of other financial or material resources to participate. Making decks from waste, a material available for free, dramatically reduces cost & hence increases accessibility by dissolving the financial barrier. The average price of a skateboard deck is €75. Money is a common limiting factor for many, hence why we will provide an alternative currency, that is freely available and abundant, that people can use to exchange for a deck: plastic waste.
RPSD is creating and stimulating small-mid-sized localized circular plastic recycling economies. Currently waste is one of the newest resources humans are realizing they can tap into for economic gain, but this practice is relatively young and the information and know-how needed to do it successfully are not significantly abundant to match the magnitude of the problem. We want to spread this know-how and catalyse its implementation however necessary.
The combination of our product and the economic model around it allows more people are able to participate in sports, as a direct result of eased accessibility, which brings inherent health and social benefits.
RPSD is an open source project, meaning anyone can self-onboard and set up their own recycling hub. Once a hub it is set up it will create well-paid jobs in the sustainability sector. Unemployment is a global problem, and with waste recovery not being fully utilized, a pairing of the two problems creates a symbiotic relationship.
It will create both formal and informal employment.
Employment for people who build the mold, produce decks, run research, and generally operate the hub. Informal employment will be created through waste collection (Similar you Europe's PANT system) where people can informally collect plastic waste, in their own time, in return for incentives, such as money, skateboards, or other plastic products.
The project will also allow more people to participate in sports, a direct result of eased accessibility and cost reduction, in which plastic brings the inherent health and social benefits of being part of a sporting community. Even if people are not involved in the plastic collection and processing, an increased abundance of skateboard decks means that more people are able to skate.
Community clean-ups organized by RPSD will spread the benefits to entire neighborhoods, beaches, and green spaces, so the impact can be felt by the entire community, not directly involved.
We have identified 7 'Impact Metrics' to measure project growth:
1. KG plastic recycled
2. Deck and mould sales
3. End-of-year turnover
4. Research publications
5. Jobs created
6. New workshops opened
7. Download kit replications
The design was conceptualized with the intention of spreading globally. Its initial development was individually led, and supported by a surrounding design collective, MANDIN, who provided project support.
The project was born in London, when it was part of the European Union, but since the UKs leaving the Union, the project was purposefully relocated to the European Union and has been conducted in Denmark, The Netherlands, France, and now Finland. Initial research was also conducted in Fablab RUC, Denmark.
When the project began the technology and surrounding know-how to make decks did not exist. Project leader, Jason Knight, worked as an engineer and designer as part of the Precious Plastic community to help develop the technologies needed and to gain personal experiences.
Decks are made using a combination of our mould and peripheral machines. Documentation on how to use the peripheral machines exists and has been popularised by Precious Plastic. The machines are familiar to 1000s of people all over the world so there is already an expansive network ready to integrate the mould into their manufacturing system.
RPSD was very much designed to integrate into the Precious Plastic Network. In addition to this pre-existing manufacturing network, our goal is to help more people join and get set up to start recycling.
Following the time at Precious Plastic, RPSD had matured into its own project. This required larger support such as crowdfunding, support from corporate, NGOs, and government bodies. Support in terms of funding was given from sources such as Plastic Odyssey, a recycling association in France, who identified us through our Kickstarter Campaign. Workshop space was provided by Atelier des Recyclers Fous, a plastic recycling-focused Fablab. This support allowed the publication of our first download kit.
RPSD is now searching for funding for the next phase of development from bodies such as The City of Helsinki and What Design Can Do.
The infrastructure of this demographic has been carefully studied and the actual process of building our and operating manufacturing system has been designed to be replicable using only the most minimal of tools available in low-resource areas: A grinder, a hand drill, and a stick welder + hand tools. This ensures that the contents of our download kit are easily replicable by all, it does not require specialist/expensive tooling that is hard for most people to attain. The process and tooling we have used are accessible to all, even the most economically marginalized minorities.
Decks have been given to pro skaters to validate the performance of our deck. Several of our YouTube videos summarise their answers and demonstrate the decks being used, with overwhelmingly positive responses. This was to ensure that the decks we produced are acceptable by the standards of skaters. The skaters responded that the decks have a little more flexibility than a wooden deck which allows them to take the shape of curved ramps more easily than a wooden deck. Wooden decks typically require petroleum-based wax to be applied to them on the bottom side to make them slippy for performing tricks, recycled plastic skateboard decks are naturally slippy meaning they do not require extra wax. Despite the plastic decks weighing fractionally more than wooden decks, their significantly higher elasticity allows them to jump much higher than a wooden deck.
Design: The middle point between engineering and art. Through the development, we have included balanced input from artists and engineers to ensure our product and project is successful both in hard metrics (Numerical, tangible, and physically measurable outputs) and soft metrics (Emotive, feeling-based, and subjectively measurable). We believe has to try to balance the opinions of both when making design decisions.
RPSD has been developed with team members and contributors from diverse backgrounds.
The most innovative and unique element of this project is the development of the mould used to make the decks, as this has previously not been achieved, so we can say, proudly, that these are the first, and only, traditional popsicle skateboard decks in the world to be made from recycled plastic. There is no existing documentation published about how to use this equipment to produce a traditional popsicle skateboard deck. Hence, this has been the concentration of our efforts since the beginning of the project.
Our most significant technological development is designing and building our own manufacturing system that allows skateboards to be produced at a low cost and with a small amount of infrastructure, e.g. in a domestic or small commercial context using basic tooling. The manufacturing system uses a combination of a custom-designed and built mould supported by pre-existing open source machines, e.g. an extrusion machine and plastic shredder.
Documentation on how to use the extrusion machine and plastic shredder exists and has been popularised by the machine development community, Precious Plastic. The machines are being replicated & used by 1000s of people all over the world so there is already an expansive network of recyclers & machinists familiar with the process involved, ready to integrate the mould into their manufacturing system. In addition to this pre-existing manufacturing network, our goal is to help more people join and get set up to start recycling.
Our entire system has a much smaller footprint and resource requirement than typical manufacturing systems. An entire factory with the capacity of providing enough decks for any capital city can be set up, by one person, in the space of a single car garage with only 50,000 euros of intial investment.
Our long-term goal is building a global network of local recycling hubs. Initially we want to see one hub on each continent, where people can bring plastic waste in return for decks. Each hub will act as a gateway, to try and get as many workspaces as possible set up, in cities, villages and towns, to get as many people as possible within a short travel radius of our workshops. The workshops will be locally run and managed, but share their developments, operational experiences and research online to collectively strengthen the global RPSD network.
The actual production of decks is achieved by researching plastic recycling, which we publish online, open source, for free. It always has been and it always will be, so that anyone, anywhere in the world can pick it up, develop it, rework it, and implement it, on the condition that they share their results back. The goal of the project is not to monopolise production but act more as a facilitator to enable and empower others, by making it as easy as possible for people to start making desirable products from recycling plastic.
Our research is published in the format of Download Kits, containing all the information people need to set up their own skateboard deck production.
The download kit will include:
• Engineering drawings
• Electronics schematics
• Assembly guide
• Build video (60min)
• Usage video (20min)
• Technical data sheets
• Bill of materials
• Links to supporting machine download kits
• Digital business + community building tools
Referring to the actual techniques we use to organize our project and produce decks, all of this work is documented in detail and shared as a template and guide for future activists to use for implementing projects of a similar nature. This information is also made available online for free.
Currently, there are several organizations in the process of applying for funding to build our mould. One body, Arizona State University, has completed a replication.
Plastic waste is a complex and holistically harmful problem.
The physical damage that plastic waste does can be measured in every single part of our ecosystem, animals, plants, water earth, and air. Plastic objects can last thousands of years and can be broken down into almost infinitely small particles making it impossible to effectively manage once it has entered the ecosystem. Resourcification of plastic creates a mechanism that catalyses humans to prevent it from entering the natural environment, and even regeneratively extracting it from the natural environment, incentivised by economic gain.
Although resourifcation has helped ease the impact of plastic waste, the process has also mutated into a non-enviromentally or socially beneficial practice. Often, plastic waste is shipped from one side of the planet to the other, from The Global North to The Global South to be processed. Processing is typically considered a dirty industry and causes damage to the surrounding environment. This waste resource flow results in a bias in the correlation between waste produced and environmental pollution in The Global South. The Global North benefits from the perks of using plastic and the Global South have to deal with the mess. It also is an incredibly carbon-intensive process referring to the actual transportation of the waste.
In recent years the phenomenon of selling waste as a resource has mutated even further into a form of colonial control. Some regions in The Global South have become dependent on the waste of The Global North to keep their local economy alive. By controlling the flow of the main economic resource into a region you have influence over local decision-making, who receives the resource and which companies fo well. This itself has manifested as a power structure and oppression force resembling colonialism.
RPSD tackles this, by making the means of manufacture, freely available to all and by creating a decentralized network of recycling hubs.
