Reuse of plastic via the principles of circular design
A new lab has arisen in the Blokhuispoort, namely the Circular Design Lab. It is an impressive lab boasting various workplaces, machines, 3D printers and trays filled with plastic. A machine for processing plastic chips with which new filament can be made for 3D printers catches the eye.
The lab is a place for students to carry out projects in the context of internships or graduation. The students’ activities centre on plastics and product development based on the principles of circular design.
Circular design is about designing products in the most sustainable way possible, saving and reusing as much raw material as possible. Prototypes and products can be produced in the lab with the available facilities.
The lab was officially opened on 26 September 2019, but they were already working on a pilot in 2018. The Circular Design Lab collaborates with the d’lab of the Friesland College (fablab for developing prototypes) and NHL Stenden’s Business Model Studio. Students who study the minors at the Frisian Design Factory can also go to the Circular Design Lab if they are required to work with plastics. All these labs are located closely together in the Blokhuispoort, which facilitates contact and collaboration.
We have also applied the circular design concept to the furnishing of the lab. For a new partition, for example, we used the windows, window frames and doors from different old buildings.
The Circular Design Lab is not only a place for students, but also a research location. Here, the Circular Plastics professorship conducts research into product development, mechanical recycling and chemical recycling. The professorship is a collaboration between Van Hall Larenstein and NHL Stenden and consists of three professors, 2 researchers and 10 lecturer-researchers. In terms of product development, they are working with at least 30 companies to study how the use of plastics in new products can be minimised and how the plastic cycle can be closed.
The development of a circular plastics minor is considered an opportunity for the future, but the ambition does not stop there: the young lab also wants to reduce and reuse the waste produced by our institute. The first steps have already been taken by reducing the number of PET cups for smoothies and the introduction of litter bins for PET bottles only, so that the PET material can be recycled within the school.
