Dutch artist Dave Hakkens has donated his machines to refugees in the Sahara so they’re able to turn plastic waste into products.
Perhaps he’s an artist you’ve never heard of, but Dave Hakkens has created a something very unique. With plastic waste accumulating in refugee camps, his machines have revolutionised life in the Sahara.
In 2012, Hakkens started Precious Plastics during his studies at the Design Academy in the Dutch city of Eindhoven. As years have passed, his impact has exceeded expectations, taking entrepreneurial endeavours into the realm of humanitarianism. The company wants to donate their equipment and encourage those there to create their own business.
Speaking to Fast Company, Joseph Klatt, managing director of Precious Plastics said: “There’s a lot of waste in the camp. [This solution helps in the creation of] a new business from processing the plastic waste and providing some economic activity for the refugees.”
The Sahara, on the western border of Algeria, hosts tens of thousands of refugees who receive packages of food, medicine, and water, delivered on plastic crates.
However, after the essential packages have been delivered, the crates are then thrown away, and add to landfill. But thanks to Hakkens and Precious Plastics, this waste is now put into one of two machines which can press sheets and blocks. Sending the products to the camps in 2021, these included shredders, washer/dryers, smelters, and presses.
With some pointers on how the machines operated, anyone was welcome to create whatever they wanted. Some made chairs and desks for schools, others made tea cups.
Klatt excitingly explains how the refugees responded to the machines, saying they were “super stoked on coming up with ideas that made sense to them—furniture styles that they’re used to, and different ideas they had.”
Modern innovation is continuing to benefit the planet and Precious Plastics are a perfect example. But it’s their encouragement to create and be independent that can change the world – one sheet at a time.
