Plasti-cut:

A multi-purpose tool for the environment.

Norio Chan
Norio Chan, 2016
Sustainable Systems
Executive Summary +
Instructions

Plasticut, a campaign to promote recycling bottles.

Plasticut is the tool to reduce waste in landfill and an education device to promote
recycling. 23% of US plastic bottles in 2015 were recycled, leaving a billion USD worth of
plastic bottles in the landfill polluting the environment. Plasticut works as a handheld or desk
tool for bottle cutting. Other than the original version, a seamless version is made to attract
bigger user groups.
- Product is made with recycled materials (except blade) and user friendly.
- Product is portable and works well for campaign promoting.
- Product’ targets the most not-recycled product from the landfill.
-Product comes in handy for multi-purposes, opening packages etc.

Plasticut is the essential tool for creating. Imagine all the possibilities working with
plastic, a commonly found material in civilization. It works well as a blank state for any
product / purposes due to its strong built and durability. With Plasticut you can create so much
more and at the same time do your duty to the Earth by saving precious sources and reducing
waste.

How to: Plastic bottle broom

- Cut open a line around the bottle at the bottom edge of label.
- From the top of the label, make straight cuts spacing 1/4 inches with the next time.
- Repeat on the second one.
- Remove top on the second bottle and slide the first on through top.
- Duct tape / super glue.
- Finish
 Mission Statement:

The purpose of plasticut is to educate proper recycling

methods as well as providing an alternative option to re-
purpose plastic bottles in a design matter to minimize the
amount of plastic bottle waste.
Abstract Mission:
The purpose of plasti-cut is to educate proper recycling methods as well as providing an
alternative option to re-purpose plastic bottles in a design matter to minimize the amount of
plastic bottle waste.

Problem Definition:
The product tackles the problem with plastic bottle recycling. “Americans used about 50 billion
plastic water bottles last year. However, the U.S.’s recycling rate for plastic is only 23 percent,
which means 38 billion water bottles which is more than $1 billion worth of plastic are wasted
each year. 1 ,by introducing a flow chart of the 7 types of plastic bottles and a brief q&a to
answer most of the common mistakes made when recycling. Secondly the card is also a tool for
the use of slicing plastic bottles into long plastic strips and can be used for multiple usages from
decorations to join connections.

Context of Problem:
Plastic bottle is causing multiple damages to the ecosystem, plastic pollution where there is a
large amount of plastic products that adversely affects wild animals and habitat and many more.
Yet only 23% were recycled in the United States in 2015 (38 billion water bottles). Here the
seven most commonly seen plastic types arranged according to their chasing arrow number, to
identify the type of the plastic used in a product and whether it is recyclable or reusable.

1) PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate)2: Commonly used in water and pop bottles,

repeated use increases the risk of leaching and
material due to it is intended for single use
applications.

2) HDPE (High-Density Polyethylene)3: Stiff plastic used for milk jugs, detergent and oil
bottles. It is the most commonly recycled plastic
due to its cost-effective process and is relatively
simple. Often used to build picnic tables, plastic
lumber, waste bins because of its hard-wearing
durability under exposure to sunlight or extreme
weather.

3) PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride)4: A soft and flexible plastic used for food wrapping, cooking
oil bottles and toys. Commonly used as computer cables or
pipes for plumbing, window frames and garden hoses too.
Products made from this material may not be recycled and
almost all PVC products require virgin material for
construction and less than 1% is recycled.

1 www.banthebottle.net/bottled-water-facts/

2 http://learn.eartheasy.com/2012/05/plastics-by-the-numbers/

3 http://learn.eartheasy.com/2012/05/plastics-by-the-numbers/

4 http://learn.eartheasy.com/2012/05/plastics-by-the-numbers/
 4) LDPE (Low-Density Polyethylene) 5: Often found in shrink wraps, squeezable bottles
and grocery plastic bags. It is not as toxic as other
plastics and is available for recycling at selected
facilities.

5) PP (Polypropylene)6 : A tough and lightweight material with heat-resistance qualities.

Works well as a barrier against moisture, grease and chemicals.
Commonly found in food packaging to keep food items dry and
fresh. Also commonly used for disposable diapers, pails, plastic
bottle tops and take-out containers. Recycling of this material is
available at certain curbside recycling programs like the one in
NYC.

6) PS (Polystyrene)7 : An inexpensive, lightweight plastic with an oily, smooth surface

commonly used for disposable styrofoam drinking cups, take-out
containers, egg cartons and package peanuts. Due to its weak
structure, polystyrene breaks up into bits easily and dispersed into
the natural environment, then consumed by marine species
causing their death. Styrene may be leached when in contact with
food products causing reproductive system dysfunction. While
polystyrene takes up 35% of US landfill material, recycling is not
widely available for it and therefore it should be avoided at all
times.

7) Other (BPA, Polycarbonate and Lexan)8: The primary concern for this category is
potential chemical leaching into food /
drinks via its packaging in
polycarbonate containers containing BPA
(an endocrine disruptor, interferes with the
production, secretion, transport, action,
function and elimination of natural
hormones. (neurological difficulties, early
puberty in girls, reduced fertility in women,
premature labour, and defects in newborn
babies.) Number 7 plastics could be found
in baby bottles, food containers and is
labeled as “PC” though a newer type of
plastic, a compostable plastic made from
bio-based polymers is slowly replacing
polycarbonates. Labeled as “PLA” instead .

5 http://learn.eartheasy.com/2012/05/plastics-by-the-numbers/

6 http://learn.eartheasy.com/2012/05/plastics-by-the-numbers/

7 http://learn.eartheasy.com/2012/05/plastics-by-the-numbers/

8 http://learn.eartheasy.com/2012/05/plastics-by-the-numbers/
Most of the plastics above can be recycled except for PVC and PP, though it is possible but only
via selected recycling plant. Here is a list of plastics not accepted at the NYC recycling program:
-Plastic foam items (foam cups, foam egg cartons, foam trays, foam packing peanuts, foam
sporting equipment, etc.), plastic bags, wrappers, shower curtains, and all kinds of plastic “film”,
containers that held dangerous or corrosive chemicals, lighters (plastic, metal, or any material),
plastic tubes (toothpaste, lotion, cosmetics, etc.), single-serve food and drink squeezable
pouches (juice pouches, baby food squeeze pouches, yogurt to go pouches, etc.), cassette and
VHS tapes, pens & markers (plastic, metal, or any material), disposable razors, 3-ring binders (if
separate the metal rings, can recycle the metal), umbrellas, garden hoses, luggage (plastic or
textile), sponges, sports balls (basket balls, bowling balls, soccer balls, footballs, yoga balls,
etc.), any glass items other than glass bottles & jars (mirrors, lightbulbs, ceramics, glassware,
etc.), styrofoam (cups, egg cartons, trays, etc.), batteries (take batteries out of toys before
recycling), electronics (computers, TVs, and related devices). With no other options most of the
materials on the list are dumped in the landfill, here is where plasti-cut comes in handy.

Other solutions attempted:

Plastic bottle cutter by Pavel & Ian on kickstarter9 is a similar project yet the size of their cutter is
a lot bigger than what I had in mind. Here is their statement: “So we thought about it and asked
ourselves: What if we could just smartly and easily cut plastic bottles and turn them into
convenient ropes? That’s what made us develop the plastic bottle cutter, a smart pocket-size
tool with which you can easily cut any plastic bottle - of juice soda or other - into a fine plastic
rope that can be used for just about as many purposes as you can think of.“ It is a similar design
yet my campaign has the educational part within the product.
(The plastic bottle cutter works smooth and has the ability to customize the width of the strip.
The only off-set is that the product requires a bulk of wood and is not portable in any sense. My
product would have to work yet slim, that is something I have to look into when crafting the final
product.)

Credit card usb flash drives are another similar design of what would match my final product.
They are plastic cards printed with graphics / or not and on the end you can flip the usb out from
the card in a 180 degree expand motion. It fits into your wallet and saves you from finding the
small uses in your bags or pockets.
(I own one of these usb credit cards and it is a smart design, the only problem is that it is a
waste of plastic and really it is a plastic card block with an usb compartment that flips out. I’m
afraid that my final product wouldn’t be as slim as planned at first.)

The Victorinox Swiss Card is another impressive design with all the convenient of an army knife
in credit card size. “82 x 54mm with just 4mm thick, will fit into a wallet. Contains: Letter opener,
large blade, small scissors, stainless steel pin, nail file, screwdriver, ballpoint pen, ruler,
toothpick, tweezers.”10 (Again, I fear that it is hard to produce a card tool with a depth of a 4mm
credit card. I’m thinking of using the laser cutting tool to hollow some of the wood to steal some
volume for the blade and other compartments.)

9 https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/910418035/plastic-bottle-cutter

10https://www.fruugo.us/victorinox-swiss-card-multi-function-swisscard-tool-various-colours/p-4315840-9902578?
gclid=CJOA0JaGl8wCFUEfhgodTfMO3Q
Campaign:
Promoting the importance to recycle with a plastic bottle fact and a qr code to the full flowchart
of how to recycle properly and promoting locations of recycling center after they enter their zip
code. The campaign would not be as colorful as the nyc gov chart (see pic 1), but a modern and
clean design. A breakthrough from the original advertisements. Secondly a qr code would lead
to a diagram of detail instructions on the 7 types of plastics, what not to recycle and a link to an
online recycling center finder that searches with zip code entry.

To promote the product we plan to work with food delivery companies within the city since they
deliver thousands of bottles in a day and fit perfectly as our target audience. We can work with
the delivery companies to create an environmental friendly image as well as helping our
operation by having them to create a page after their customers have ordered food to donate
optionally to the plasti-cut campaign and every dollar received they would donate half to
support, etc. When they have donated a certain amount they would receive the plasti-cut at their
doorstep next time they order. Or the nyc government and the food delivery companies can fund
our campaign to include one in every food delivery one a certain day to test the water of the
crowd then decide what way to work on. A cmc machine cut would be more precise for the
product but would be hard to achieve.

The card is too a tool to cut plastic bottles into strips for other purposes11 as demonstrated in the
video of a smilier product. The card would be: Made out of wood, credit card sized, with a blade
included that works as a bottle cutter.

Concept (see pic 2&3): On one end of the card you can pull the corner chip out, revealing the
blade embedded in the card. By cutting a hole in the bottle, you then put the one end from the
corner chip and have your index finger clamping in between. Work your way down with the help
of the corner chip to achieve different width of plastic strips. The corner chip is secured by
electric bands from the main card with enough tension to cut and store.

11 http://www.treehugger.com/green-home/plastic-bottle-cutter-lets-you-turn-bottles-rope.html
Bibliography

"Bottled Water Facts." Ban the Bottle RSS. Accessed April 22, 2016. http://
www.banthebottle.net/bottled-water-facts/.

"Eartheasy." Eartheasy Blog Plastics by the Numbers Comments. Accessed April 22, 2016.
http://learn.eartheasy.com/2012/05/plastics-by-the-numbers/.

"Plastic Bottle Cutter." Kickstarter. Accessed April 22, 2016. https://www.kickstarter.com/

projects/910418035/plastic-bottle-cutter.

"Victorinox Swiss Card - Multi Function Swisscard Tool - Various Colours." Welcome to Fruugo!
Accessed April 22, 2016. https://www.fruugo.us/victorinox-swiss-card-multi-function-swisscard-
tool-various-colours/p-4315840-9902578?gclid=CJOA0JaGl8wCFUEfhgodTfMO3Q.

Markham, Derek. "Plastic Bottle Cutter Lets You Easily Turn Bottles into Rope." TreeHugger.
Accessed April 22, 2016. http://www.treehugger.com/green-home/plastic-bottle-cutter-lets-you-
turn-bottles-rope.html.
Self Evaluation

To improve my project I would include more information regarding recycling, I feel like I have
less focus on that part and more on the product itself. I would love to improve on my product too
though I faced some technical difficulties with the thickness of the final product. With that being
said, I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished in this project and I certainly had fun in the process.
This project would make a difference if it was presented correctly with help from cooperations
but it is not powerful enough by itself. The project does make the world sustainable and It
changed my mindset on sustainability and recycling completely. I used to not care and dump
everything into the recycling bin but now knowing that there are a lot more materials that
couldn’t be recycled, I will head for a different direction for this project if i have the chance.
Maybe working with alternative ways to recycle a material, say hard pressed plastic so there
wouldn’t be any co2 admission but again, technical difficulties limits how far I can do in one
semester but I will invest time in this direction for sure this summer. This project has taught me
that design could be ugly, or not aesthetically good-looking as long as it does the Earth some
good. Side note I highly recommend this game “Fallout 4”, based in a world of nuclear power,
their world has experienced a nuclear outbreak and playing as a character you have the ability
to craft with trash / recycled material, which really opened my mind so i highly recommend!
Appendix

Diagram 1 & 2

Diagram 3 & 4
Final Product
PR
PR
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