Precious Plastic Documentation provides comprehensive guides for building open-source plastic recycling machines, establishing recycling businesses, and processing waste plastics into usable materials. Founded by Dave Hakkens in 2013, the project has evolved into a global movement comprising over 40,000 practitioners working in 400+ workshops. The documentation includes detailed design files, build instructions, 40+ educational video tutorials, business operation guides, and starter kits enabling anyone to establish a local plastic recycling workspace and create livelihoods from waste streams.
All documentation is published under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 licensing, making knowledge freely available for modification and redistribution. The latest version (V5) reflects years of community learning and includes updated machines, improved processes, and professionalization pathways. Precious Plastic exemplifies open-source circular economy principles, transforming waste into resources while building distributed manufacturing capacity.