What it is
The simplest recycling in the plan, and the best loop. Cardboard is torn up, soaked, blended into a grey porridge, then pressed onto a mould and left to dry. What comes out is moulded pulp — the same stuff as an egg carton.
The twist: the moulds are 3D-printed in PET filament made from drink bottles by our bottle machine. Bottle → filament → mould → cardboard becomes a product.
Why it matters here
Across the street is Nomad Wholefoods, the organic refill shop. Cardboard boxes are never in short supply on a main street, and a refill shop is full of glass jars. The first things we want to make:
- jar cradles, to protect glass jars in a courier box;
- seed-paper cards, which you plant instead of throwing away.
How it works
Shred or tear the cardboard → soak 12–24 hours → blend → form on the printed mould with a fine mesh → press between two boards with clamps → demould → dry on a rack (or in a dehydrator at 55 °C or less, never with the moulds inside: printed PET softens from about 70 °C).
No heat, no fumes, no blades beyond a paper shredder. It is wet and messy, so it runs in the garage, not in the heritage building. A good first project for a family.
One rule
Recycled cardboard can carry ink residues. Our pulp is for packaging around closed jars, for plants and for non-food uses — never in direct contact with unpackaged food.
Done when
Twenty jar cradles survive a real courier trip, and the first seed-paper cards are in people’s hands. We will publish the yield per kilo of cardboard and how long drying really takes.
Les plans sont gratuits — the plans are free.