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Plastic Scanner

👋Hi, we are building a device that can identify the most common types of plastic to make plastic recycling simpler, more accessible, and more viable! All in an open source way. We don’t know yet what it is going to look like, but maybe something like these: DIY Version of the Plastic Scanner Visual model from thesis Jerry Commercial Version of the Plastic Scanner Visual model by AED student team Current status We’re currently in the prototyping phase and working towards a version that is recommended to build or purchase.

This discovery led to the central research question: which resources can be developed to accelerate the process of plastic sorting for informal recyclers? By applying principles of context variation, local manufacturing, and open development in the design process, tools that accelerate the sorting of plastic waste were created. We have a specific license that says you can replicate the Plastic Scanner and even commercialize it, but if you make any improvements you are required to keep that open source and share it back with the community.

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