Donate your plastic.

Become part of the
Recycling Revolution!

At the Sustainable Design Studio, we are on a mission to ignite creativity with your plastic waste.

Whether you’re an individual with a stack of DVD cases or a business with boxes of 3D printing waste, we see a treasure trove of potential. By accepting specific plastics, we can work together to reduce your environmental impact and transform your unwanted waste into a valuable raw material.

Plastics we love:

HDPE

PP

Plastics we CAN’T accept:

With Labels

Removing labels is labour intensive and can often leave harsh residue on the plastic. We ask that all donations come to us label free please.

Food Waste

We are unable to clean and therefore process items that have been used for food and drink products. This includes bottles, yoghurt pots and containers.

Blow Moulds

Plastics products that have been made from blow moulding are unable to be processed by our machines. Please identify your plastic before sending.

Learn more

Identifying Plastics
Resin Identification Codes (RIC)

RIC is a classification system that helps recyclers identify the type of plastic resin used in an item. The ‘triangle arrow codes’ were introduced in 1988 by the Plastics Industry Association and range from numbers 1 to 7.

1 PETE - Polyethylene Terephthalate
Clear Plastic Bottles, Clear Coffee Cups, Fruit Containers

2 HDPE - High Density Polyethylene
Milk Bottles, Shampoo Bottles, Bottle Caps, Food Containers

3 PVC - Low Density Polyethylene
Cosmetic Containers, Building Pipe, Commercial Cling Wrap

4 LDPE - Low Density Polyethylene
Plastic Bags, Cling Wrap, Squeeze Bottles.

5 PP - Polypropylene
Food Containers, Yogurt Pots, Plastic Chairs, DVD Cases

6 PS - Polystyrene
Food Containers, CD Cases, Party Cups, Packing Foam

7 Other
ABS, PLA, Nylon and other new age plastics

How to find out if your plastic is right for us:

First we must create an understanding of the type and quantity of your plastics. Sort through your waste and identify the colours, plastic type and rough quantity of pieces.
Next you can contact our team to discuss if your waste is right for our recycling initiative.
When it is confirmed that we are able to accept your type and quantity of plastic. Send us a small sample which indicates the quality and condition of your waste (please separate by colour where possible).
At this stage we will process and shred your samples, testing how well it shreds on our machines as well as the plastic's melt flow index.
After the testing phase can establish if our partnership is right and from there we can set up a consistent supply.

‘Take It Easy Film Lab’
Our initiative in action.

We have been working with the ‘Take it Easy Film Lab’ since early 2024. The team have become one of our favourite recycling partners and are passionate about having their waste handled in a sustainable way.

Based in Leeds, Take It Easy are an independent film lab that work to develop photographs, sell merch, alongside running workshops and events. Each month we receive their clear, black and grey LDPE film cartridges. We process this plastic with our Shredder Basic, creating valuable plastic flakes that our customers use for their injection mould projects.