No, this isn't cotton candy … but recycled plastic waste.
Here's how they got the idea.
Here's how they got the idea.
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NewsTranscript
00:00It started as a simple student concept, thinking about a candy floss machine, and today we
00:09have the amazing and rewarding opportunity to actually have a real positive impact.
00:16It's been used to recycle approximately one ton of waste plastic and then sent to Syria
00:22to insulate 15 houses in a refugee camp there.
00:26Hi, my name is Audrey, with my colleagues Nick, Emile and Christophe, we invented the
00:30Poly Floss Factory.
00:32We wanted to create foam out of plastic waste in order to put into cushions or into sofas,
00:39but when we were trying to make foam with foaming agents, it was very difficult to control,
00:45it was burning, and this is when we had this idea of getting inspired by the candy floss
00:50process and we started making prototypes to make candy floss machines for thermoplastics.
00:57Our first candy floss machine was pretty simple, a drill, a welding tool, and a piece of coke
01:02can.
01:03It didn't work.
01:04The second iteration was better.
01:14This is our machine, it's very simple to use.
01:16We have here a hopper where you put the grounded plastic, it is preheated and melted, extruded
01:24by centrifugation, it creates like small droplets that are then extended with a flow of air
01:30coming from this blower here.
01:32We collect the floss in these huge entangled fibers.
01:39Of course, for security reasons, you would need to wear a mask and some gloves, but everything
01:44is easy to use and to maintain.
01:49In 2018, we've been approached by several NGOs asking about our technology and material,
01:55if there was some potential to recycle waste in refugee camps and turn it into insulative
02:00material.
02:01The number of the people in the camps can vary from 300 to 10,000 or more, and the winter
02:08there can be very harsh with temperature down to minus 5, minus 10, and their housing
02:14has a little insulation from the cold.
02:18Also, there is no waste recycling in the camps.
02:21There is only what is called waste removal.
02:25If we can solve both these problems, it would be great.
02:29We can use it as a textile, so we can weave it, we can felt it, we can knit it, and this
02:36allows a lot of different applications.
02:39But when we start manufacturing these, we realize as well that it's very insulative,
02:45a bit like glass wool.
02:46Now, we've used this machine, we've sent this machine to Gaziantep at the Syrian border.
02:52Today, we are walking toward the GESOF workshop.
02:56Our polyfloss machine has freshly arrived to Gaziantep, so we are very excited to see it.
03:06Currently, we are developing a lightweight, durable material we are using for insulation
03:23panels and sleeping bags that can then be distributed to refugees by the NGOs.
03:31We installed panels to the exterior of houses on northwest Syria as a first trial.
03:36It's been used to recycle approximately one ton of waste plastic and then sent to Syria
03:43to insulate 15 houses in refugee camps there.
03:49Our future aim is to directly use recycled plastic from the camps in Syria.
03:54From this successful first field test, we are now planning different applications of
04:02this insulation in different parts of the world, not only in Syria, but also in Africa,
04:08in Asia, like Nepal, and we are excited to say that we hope to make a big impact.