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ProtoPrint is a social enterprise that aims at empowering waste pickers in India
with the ability to produce 3D printer filament from recycled plastic litter
We market the recycled filament at the global level
and also use it to provide affordable and accessible 3D printing services
students and professionals in urban India, making each wastepicker
a micro entrepreneur
3D printing is an additive manufacturing process
that creates three-dimensional objects from files on your computer
These files are called CAD files where CAD stands for Computer-Aided Design
We upload these files to our printers that then create the objects
by melting plastic filament
and extruding it on a Cartesian plane, building three dimensional, physical
models through additive manufacturing
So ProtoPrint empowers wastepickers in urban India
by giving them the the ability to produce 3d printer filament from waste plastic
the way the process works currently is that they collect plastic waste from
streets and dumps
sort it, and sell it off to scrap dealers.
Unfortunately, they aren't paid very well for the important work that they do,
nor are they socially recognized
and that's the problem
Our pilot project is based in the city of Pune and we're working with a
waste-picker union called SWaCH
After the plastic is collected, it is first sorted by type
For our process, we currently use high-density polyethylene or HDPE plastic
After they're sorted the bottles are brought to our Filament Lab
or Tech Lab for further processing. At the lab, the bottles are scanned,
washed and dried to prepare them for the flaking process
they are then passed through our FlakerBot that grinds and shreds them,
converting the bottles to plastic flakes
These flakes then passed through our RefilBot that uses
a rotating heating mechanism to extrude the recycled filament
after a few final steps the process is complete
adding significant value to the original plastic waste
My name is Sandhya Dhamale
I've worked for 5 years with SWaCH in Pune
SWaCH deals with many different waste issues
and I think this new initiative will really help
because I think it will train wastepickers
who currently work in garbage
to hone new skills and work better jobs.
On the consumer side
we provide affordable and accessible rapid prototyping services to
students and professionals. The prototyping market is a billion-dollar industry
that currently uses methods like injection molding and casting
these methods are both expensive and time-consuming and we aim to provide
architectural and engineering students with cost effective ways to innovate and design.
Our online web portal allows personal and professional customers to
upload and print their models
or choose from a number of stock models in our database
we then print these models and ship them off or have them ready for pickup
at our kiosk locations
In conclusion, ProtoPrint is a sustainable social enterprise
that empowers wastepickers in India while providing affordable prototyping
services to innovators and designers
Check us out at www.protoprint.in