Like it or not, our modern world is built on plastic - and whilst the long-term health and ecosystem impacts are still poorly understood, the early signs are pretty alarming. Tackling this issue is set to be a generations-long task, but pioneering Colwick-based design studio Future Makers are giving it a crack, turning waste plastic into useful, solid, creations that are built to last, whilst giving back. Founder and Director Tristan Hessing guides us through their manufacturing process, the education gap hampering creatives working with this abundant material, and why we need more young people joining and innovating in the plastics industry.
What’s Future Makers all about then?
The mission is to help the creative industries adopt recycled plastic as a viable material. We all know plastic is everywhere, but there’s very little infrastructure to help artists, designers or architects access and work with it. Where would you go to buy waste plastic? Where would you learn how to use it? Most people see plastic as something mystical, not something you’d actually use in fabrication, but it’s not difficult to work with, and it’s massively abundant. We need to make better use of it, but right now the education infrastructure doesn’t exist.
Could you outline some of the issues and opportunities around plastic for us?
Plastic’s here to stay. If we want electricity, we have to have plastic as there’s nothing readily available to replace cable insulation. If you go to a hospital there’s plastic everywhere, because it's sterile and cheap to make. There's so many examples of how you cannot extract the material out of our modern life. Even if we stopped using it right now, which would mean we'd have to accept a completely different way of living, we’d still have billions of tonnes of it on the planet. So while we work out how to wean ourselves off it long-term, we need to roll our sleeves up and start reusing what we’ve already got.
We’re in your workshop here on Colwick Industrial Estate - talk us through the production process?
We start with plastic that’s already been used or might be considered waste, which we can either buy from recyclers pre-sorted, or we can collect it ourselves and check if it's the right type using our scanner. There are different types and some are easier to work with than others, for example polyethylene, the kind you find in food packaging and bottle tops. It gets shredded and ends up like this [Tristan runs his fingers through a multicoloured confetti type material].
Can anyone buy used plastic?
It’s difficult to buy in the quantities we want to - you can’t just buy 20kg of this stuff, you’re pushed into buying tonnes, and that’s a big problem for enterprises like us trying to start up. But we’ve managed to find some who will work with us more sympathetically.
We also collect our own - we’re setting up bottle top stations in places like Broadway Cinema, and we’re planning to get more stations into schools and public places. Then we wash it and shred it in our granulator, and we can then use one of a few machines to form it. We’ve got an injection moulder and a sheet press - the press is probably the most useful. So we’ll weigh out the plastic, load it into trays, and heat it to about 170°C. The best comparator is it’s like working with butter - you melt it, shape it, cool it, and it solidifies.
We're trying to revolutionise recycling - make it incentivised so that people can see their plastic going on a local journey and being turned into biodiversity assets, like planters that go back to that school or public space
…and it’s safe to work with?
Yes, as long as you don’t burn it. We’ve got a proper extractor, but if you keep it within its melting point, it’s safe. People worry about leaching and microplastics, but plastic leaches in landfills too. It’s happening whether it’s in front of us or out of sight.
What sort of things are you making with it?
We’re starting with planters, which are nice assets to go back into the community that the plastics came from. They’re solid, long-lasting, and support biodiversity. The best thing you can do with recycling plastic is to make something which can exist in that form for as long as possible, so we build them to last. One of these locks in around 35kg, and we don’t mix types of plastic either or use glues, so you can disassemble it and repair it, or shred these up and reform them.
They’re really nice objects - can we see them out in the wild anywhere?
We’ve only just launched them so we’ve sold a few so far, one to a landscape gardener working with schools. Schools are really interested as they get the educational value, but they’re expensive - one of these costs about £550 each, which is more expensive than most people are willing to spend, because it’s not virgin plastic which is cheaper to make, or imported from cheap labour countries. If anything it’s a bit too cheap for running the business, but we’re trying to make a price that’s palatable. We’re trying to get some backing from the plastics industry, and incorporate things like bottle top collections which boosts the educational piece.
So you’re not anti-plastics industry, you’re working with them?
We want to bring them to the table. A lot of people in the industry genuinely want to do better, but they’re scared of getting it wrong. The industry’s been demonised, and that makes them clam up. So we’re trying to create a safe space to explore better practices and support education.
There’s a massive skills gap because young people aren’t entering the petrochemical industry, they don’t see it aligning with their values. That’s a problem, because we need innovation but we’re not getting talented young minds in to try and affect change, so we’re trying to connect schools, industry and community to start that conversation. We're trying to revolutionise recycling - make it incentivised so that people can see their plastic going on a local journey and being turned into biodiversity assets, like planters that go back to that school or public space.
It’s a big challenge… are there other projects that give you hope?
There’s definitely a swelling of grassroots recycling initiatives. Precious Plastics is a great entry point - it’s an open-source community with designs, machines and knowledge sharing. But the hard bit is pushing beyond public funding into something commercially sustainable. That’s the space we’re trying to carve out, and it flabbergasts me that there's not more future makers in the world, certainly in this country. Not to blow our own trumpet, but I think we’re trailblazing here.
How can people get involved and come along on the journey with you?
We’re always interested in artists and designers who want to prototype new ideas. If you’ve got a project in mind, we can help you understand the process and be a bid-writing partner. We’re also keen to hear from any schools or teachers who want to be part of our Plastic Revolution programme. We understand schools can't afford to pay for it, but if you tell us you're interested in running a collection scheme and homing a planter, it'll help us raise the money. Or if you’re a business looking for positive Corporate Social Responsibility outputs, you can sponsor our educational work or buy our products and services.
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