The tiny plastic factory

Several startups have been selected during the Zero Carbon Challenge and recognized as promising green businesses in New Zealand.

The tiny plastic factory is one of these businesses: it was founded by Darcy Snell to offer a transparent and ecologic service to collect and recycle plastic wastes in Wellington. He answered some questions for us to get a better understanding of his offer and his vision.

What is the specific problem you want to tackle?

Currently it is difficult for most plastic manufacturers to use recycled material in their production because there are few sources that can supply a high quality of recycled plastic. Manufacturers can’t afford to be compromising on the quality of their products and so will not use recycled plastic with significant levels of contamination.

Environmentally-conscious businesses are not confident that their used plastic is disposed of responsibly because of a lack of operational transparency and unpersonable relationships with the waste management provider.

What is the offer you are proposing?

The Tiny Plastic Factory recycles used plastic from local businesses (partners) into quality feedstock for manufacturers. We operate a fully integrated supply chain utilizing small scale infrastructure and so can offer full transparency and data on all the material we collect from our partners, and consistently high quality feedstock we’re able to control completely in-house.

How is it different from the one of your competitors?

Our competitors (other waste management companies) don’t recycle material themselves and are simply a middle man. We actually recycle plastic within the company and see it all the way through to a new product again. We also collect using bicycles rather than loud polluting trucks.

What were the motivations to start this project?

I wanted to combine my creativity and love of challenges with a meaningful impact. I have always been passionate about the environment and I think it is terrible the rate at which we are destroying it. I started recycling plastic to reduce harm to the environment and create an outlet for change within industry.

Did the little plastic factory evolve over time?

I’m really pleased with what The Tiny Plastic Factory is, but it is not at all what I initially had in mind – I didn’t even plan on it being a business. At the base level it was always about recycling plastic, which it still is, but also so much more. In short, our micro operations are very similar to what I planned, but our macro operations are very different.

Looking at your routine as a person, what are your daily actions toward the environment? 

I am vegan and only ever use bicycle as a form of transport. I buy few things aside from food, and rarely anything in packaging. Most food I buy is seconds from local produce markets, which goes to waste otherwise. I reuse as many materials as I can and very carefully chose where I spend any money. I go out of my way to support other local environmental initiatives by volunteering my time, knowledge and skills.

What is your vision of the environment in 20 years?

I think in 20 years the environment will be in the worst state it has ever been overall. I think there will be lots of effort going into rejuvenating it and around most sustainable practices, especially in agriculture, but that a lot of the damage already happening right now will have taken a tremendous toll. I think a lot of choices we have around sustainable options will no longer be options, but legal obligations, and everyone will be wondering why we didn’t do anything sooner.

If you had a magic power, what would you do to save the planet?

If I had a magic power it would be to accelerate the growth of nature, which I would use to help bring back forests and revive ‘dead’ land like deserts.

If you were the CEO of a big corporation, what would be your first action toward the environment? 

Get a LOT of trees planted.

If you had one question to ask to one person, who will be the person and what will be the question? 

Dave Hakkens* – ‘What is your best advice for going about helping change the world?’

*Dave Hakkens is a dutch designer known for several projects such as precious plastic (https://preciousplastic.com), here is the last update on it: https://davehakkens.nl/preciousplastic/version-4-release-a-big-bang-for-plastic-recycling/