Seminar on Creativity, Design, and Prototyping – SCCP

Seminar for FEUAN master’s and undergraduate students.

Its main objective is to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to develop and prototype concrete solutions to a problem with a significant impact on society: the gradual increase in plastic waste.

During the seminar, a project was developed with the aim of  » REUSE OF PLASTIC WASTE ".

The project was developed in several phases, as outlined below:

Plastic Collection

Main Objective: To Process the Collection of PET Plastic Waste

Describe the method for collecting plastic waste in the mapped areas, using environmental education and financial incentives; the collected plastic waste is then stored and delivered to the entity responsible for its treatment.

Image: The process from design to display of the model showing plastic waste collection at various locations throughout the city of Luanda.

Design  of the New Product

Main Objective: Design of water tanks and building blocks made of PET plastic.

Treatment – Microenterprises

Main Objective: To produce water storage tanks using recycled PET bottles as the primary raw material for rainwater harvesting.

This is a sustainable, low-cost solution for storing water in areas where drinking water is scarce. There are several ways to build these reservoirs; in this project, a reservoir was constructed with the capacity to store 2,000 liters of rainwater and/or water from air conditioning units for sanitary use.

Treatment – Small Businesses

Main Objective: To produce building blocks using a mixture of polystyrene, sand, vegetable oil, and PET as raw materials;

The manufacture of building blocks will involve two processes: the mechanical process and the chemical process. The mechanical process involves grinding the PET until it reaches a size of 4 mm; in the next step, the ground PET is mixed with Styrofoam and dry fine sand to begin the chemical process, with vegetable oil serving as a separating layer between the mold and the PET-Styrofoam mixture.

Image: Exhibition of a model showing the production of recycled PET plastic blocks.

Economic Model and Communication

Main Objective: To create an economic and communication model for micro and small businesses involved in the reuse of plastic waste.

The model was based on sustainable economy. In this context, the reuse of plastic waste serves as the link connecting three (3) central issues: i) income for the most disadvantaged; ii) the reduction of solid waste; and iii) the reduction of environmental impact. Regarding communication, the decision was made to raise awareness among high school students about the problems of plastic waste and to create a website.

Image: Exhibition of the Economic and Communication Model mock-up.