2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Plastics are one of the most highly talked about materials in the conversation of recycling and waste management. However, plastic can be one of the most difficult post-consumer wastes to recycle. Many differing types of plastics, the cost of processing, low quality results, and dirty or contaminated plastic containers are some of the many issues plaguing the process of plastic recycling. That’s not to mention the hundreds of millions of tons of plastic that go straight to the landfill each year. Discarded plastic waste is a large-scale issue in which everyone plays a part. As such, individual efforts to reduce waste can combine leading to a great impact in reducing the amount of plastic finding its way into a landfill or waterway. This paper documents efforts to establish a new way for the community at _________ to recycle and reuse post-consumer waste utilizing the process of vacuum forming. Using a vacuum forming, students could quickly, easily, and sustainably recycle sheets of discarded plastics into something new. For example, a student may come into the makerspace one day with a cleaned-out milk jug, spend 5-10 minutes at the vacuum forming machine, and leave with star-shaped candle mold. This paper details the way the simple machines are made in the _______ Makerspace, products that can be made with the machines, and students' feedback on the making experience.