KIMO Denmark is currently involved in a 3-year project sponsored by the Velux-Villum fund called “An Ocean of Possibilities”. The Project leader is the organization Plastic Change. KIMO Denmark is work package leader for the “bench and bin” project. The aim of our project is to reclaim plastic from municipal beach cleaning in order to make a new design product – a bench and bin that can symbolize the effort gone into cleaning the beaches. The project will also celebrate the many volunteers and municipal workers who clean the country’s beaches each year.
This year we were able to collect over 1,000 kg of PP and PE plastic that the company Aage Vestergaard Larsen ground down into powder. The plastic molding company, Dansk Rotations Plast, tested and formed the reclaimed plastic by using various techniques in existing molds. The first tests were very successful. They molded beach chairs and garbage pails using different percent-ages of the material. All the products were durable and functional. More testing is now being done on durability and weathering.
The scale of the project expands in 2017 in order to collect even more materials. We will explore the percentage marine litter on Danish beaches is possible to reclaim. KRADS architecture is designing an original bench and bin. This product will then be produced and available to the municipalities. It can tell the story of plastic pollution in the marine environment and the large municipal effort to clean up. It will also show that plastic material has a value and that it should be recycled by through circular economical systems.
Ryan Metcalfe
Network Coordinator
KIMO Denmark
See the project video here: (Danish only)