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Set up a Sheetpress Workspace
In this How-to weโre going to guide you through all the steps to set up a Sheetpress Workspace. Learn about plastic, how to find a space, get the Sheetpress, find customers and connect to the Precious Plastic Universe. Step 1-3: Intro Step 4-9: Learn Step 10-18: Set up Step 19-23: Run Step 24-25: Share1+ months
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1
Role in the Universe
First of all, make sure you had a look at the showcase page of this Starterkit!
๐ preciousplastic.com/starterkits/showcase/sheetpress
Now about your Role:
Sheetpress Workspaces buy recycled shredded plastic from Shredder Workspaces and transform it into big recycled sheets. These beautiful sheets are then sold to design studios or directly to customers.
Sheetpress Workspaces should also be in touch with a Community Point to connect, interact and get support from the local Precious Plastic community.
2
Outcomes
The outcome of a Sheetpress Workspace is recycled plastic sheets.
These sheets can be of different sizes up to 1x1 m and with varying thicknesses from 5mm up to 30mm (more to be explored!).
Make sure to play around with various patterns and colours to create stunning recycled sheets.
3
Is this for you?
For the Sheetpress Workspace you will have to be quite technical as you have to understand how the Sheetpress machine works, ideally, know how to maintain it and, as a plus, know how to fix it when it needs a bit of extra love.
Attention to details and some creativity is also a nice plus to come up with unique sheets of stunning beauty.
4
Learn about Precious Plastic
As a start, itโs super important to really know and understand Precious Plastic. What drives the project, how it works, its philosophy and solutions.
If you havenโt already, dig our website, community platform and Bazar to have a deep understanding of the project.
๐ preciousplastic.com
๐ community.preciousplastic.com
๐ bazar.preciousplastic.com
Also, make sure to check the Universe chapter to fully understand how the Precious Plastic Universe works.
๐ community.preciousplastic.com/academy/universe
5
Check out your area
Get an overview of who and what is already existing in your area.
Have a look on the Precious Plastic Map to see the activity around you. You can also search for more people on the Precious Plastic Bazar or search for #preciousplastic on social media.
Make sure not to jam the local network, if there are already five Sheetpress Workspaces around, have a chat about collaboration with them first, or maybe consider starting another type of space.
๐ community.preciousplastic.com/map
6
Find a Community Point near you
Community Points are the glue of the Precious Plastic Universe. They know the ins and outs of your local network. They can help you in multiple ways but they generally have a very in-depth overview of local Precious Plastic spaces, people, useful shops, resources and can help you with planning out your project. You can find them on the map here.
๐ community.preciousplastic.com/map
7
Find your plastic supply
You can use the Precious Plastic Map and the Bazar to find Shredder workspaces around you that can provide you with the raw material: shredded plastic waste.
If you have a local Community Point, they might be able to give you some advices for this as well.
๐ community.preciousplastic.com/map
๐ bazar.preciousplastic.com
8
Get on Discord
Day to day discussions in the Precious Plastic Universe happen on Discord.
Introduce yourself, say hi in your country channel and start to discover the different channels where people go deep into specific topics (building, collection, design etc..)
Join the Discord:
๐ discordapp.com/invite/rnx7m4t
9
The basics of plastic
Before you start it is crucial to get a solid understanding of plastic. How it works, the different types, melting temperatures and so on.
Head over to our Academy and dive into the plastic chapters to learn about the different types and properties and more.
๐ community.preciousplastic.com/academy/plastic/basics
10
Fill in the Action Plan
Before jumping into making machines or finding a space it is smart to sit down and properly plan your project and shape your vision.
To help you plan weโve made a graphic tool called the Action Plan that helps you to craft your mission, understand your customers, revenue streams, costs and much more. With this tool, you should get a step closer to create a successful project.
You can find the Action Plan in the Download Kit or learn more in the Academy.
๐ community.preciousplastic.com/academy/business/actionplan
11
Workspace Calculator
Now you have your project nicely planned out and itโs starting to take shape in your mind.
It is important at this stage to make a serious estimation of how much it will cost you to set up and run your workspace. Otherwise, you might run out of money halfway. The Workspace Calculator is a spreadsheet that helps you do just that.
You can find the Workspace Calculator in the Download Kit or learn more in the Academy.
๐ https://community.preciousplastic.com/academy/business/workspacecalculator
12
Business Plan Template
To help you pitch your idea to potential partners, financial institutions or investors we made a Business Plan Template (and a specific example for the Sheetpress Workspace) for you to use.
This template helps you to talk the business language and should help you access the necessary money to begin.
For more explanation check out the video in the Academy.
๐ community.preciousplastic.com/academy/business/businessplan
13
Tool list
Alongside your Sheetpress system, you will need a number of other tools and machines to help you with the operations of the Sheetpress Workspace.
In the Download Kit, you will find a tool list with all the necessary tools to run your workspace.
14
Find the space
To help you find and set up the space for your workspace, you can use the floorplan in the Download Kit. It includes all the minimum requirements and a little template to place your machines and tools in the workspace.
15
Get your Sheetpress
Cool, now you have a space itโs time to get hold of your Sheetpress system. There are three ways to do that:
1 Build it yourself following our tutorials
๐ community.preciousplastic.com/academy/build/sheetpressbuild
2 Buy it on the Bazar.
๐ bazar.preciousplastic.com
3 Find a Machine Shop near you on the map that can build it for you.
๐ community.preciousplastic.com/map
16
Build your workspace
Super, youโve got your Sheet press system!
You can watch our video on how to fully set up your Sheetpress Workspace with all the additional tools, furniture and posters needed to make your space ready.
๐ community.preciousplastic.com/academy/spaces/sheetpress
17
Safety
Always stay safe.
Of course, Sheetpress machines get hot. And can cause a hazard in different ways.
So before starting to melt, please check out our safety video to learn about dangers and how to stay safe when working with plastic.
๐ community.preciousplastic.com/academy/plastic/safety
18
Buy shredded plastic
Now the only thing missing is your raw material.
Try to get your shredded plastic as local as possible. In best case you can buy it from a Shredder Workspace in your local network.
Make sure to specify your preferred shreds size (small, medium or large) and to have a variety of colours and types, so you can be more creative.
19
Time to make sheets!
Ok, having all the things in place itโs time to start baking sheets. Yeeah!
Watch this chapter to learn how to make a sheet and adopt the best practices.
๐ community.preciousplastic.com/academy/build/sheetpressrun
20
Make a variety
Once you get a grasp on the process make sure to make a nice variety of colours, sizes and thicknesses to attract different customers.
21
Maintenance
As you run your Sheetpress Workspace it is crucial that you maintain the Sheetpress machine in order to keep the quality of your products high and prevent failures.
In case you haven't seen it yet, here are some guidelines on how to maintain your system:
๐ community.preciousplastic.com/academy/build/sheetpressrun
22
Sell ๐ฐ
You can now make superb sheets. Many every day. Now is crucial to find people and organisations that want to buy your recycled sheets.
Put them on the Precious Plastic Bazar to access an audience that is already interested in recycled products.
And then you can get creative on how to sell your sheets locally. Get in touch with shops, design studios, online stores and more.
๐ bazar.preciousplastic.com
23
Create your profile
If you havenโt already, itโs time to create your profile on the Precious Plastic Community Platform to connect with people.
Follow the link below and sign up with your email, pick your role, put your pin on the map and upload a nice image to show the world what youโre doing.
๐ community.preciousplastic.com/sign-up
24
Create How-to's!
Share with the worldwide community how you run your Sheetpress Workspace so other people can learn from you and start using your solution to tackle the plastic problem.
Make sure you only create How-to's for your best processes and techniques, no tryouts or oneoffs. This can also help you create a good name for yourself in the Precious Plastic community.
๐ community.preciousplastic.com/how-to
25
Good things take time
Starting off will take some time in the beginning. Itโs normal. Be patient, work smart and reach out to your Precious Plastic community if you need help. The efforts will pay off eventually :)
Youโre changing the world. Thank you!
26
Download and start!
Ready and excited to start?
You're a hero!
If you haven't done it yet, click on the yellow download button (in the top section of this page) to get the package with all the files you need to set up your Sheetpress Workspace.
Download and start your recycling journey! :)