Trash or treasure? For Plastic Guys, a company that turns hard-to-recycle plastics into designer boards, the answer is clear. We calculated their product's carbon footprint and discovered that their circular approach not only solves the pressing problem of plastic waste management, but also reduces emissions: for every panel made of plastic crumb, 60.29 kg of CO₂ is avoided. Find out more about their business and the findings that the calculation produced in an interview with Jakub Federla, Marketing Director at Plastic Guys.
In the Czech Republic, we are producing more and more plastic waste without effectively closing its material loop. Could it be said that this problem gave rise to Plastic Guys? What is the story behind the Plastic Guys and how are you doing today?
Yes, that's right. The idea for Plastic Guys was born during studies at the Brno University of Technology, where colleagues Ondra Venclík and Marco Aulisa perceived how big the problem of plastic waste and its insufficient treatment was. In the Czech Republic, more and more plastic waste is accumulating, but there is a lack of effective solutions for its recycling and reuse. This problem motivated us to start experimenting with plastic recycling.
Current team of Plastic Guys
Our goal was to create a product that not only contributes to the reduction of plastic waste, but also offers aesthetically appealing and functional products for architecture and design. Thus, Plastic Guys was born. Today we are doing very well: our products are in demand not only in the Czech Republic but also abroad. We are constantly trying to innovate, improve our production processes and expand our portfolio. We have big plans, including expansion into new markets and the introduction of new product lines.
Making a beautiful product out of waste - it's called the circular economy. How does it play into your business? What materials do you work with and what about the recyclability of your products?
The circular economy is the foundation of our business and is at the heart of everything we do. Our aim is to close the material loop and ensure that plastics that would otherwise end up in landfill or incineration get a new lease of life. We work primarily with thermoplastics, which are often not recycled in the Czech Republic due to a lack of infrastructure. But we have found a way to use these materials to produce our design boards. As for recycling our boards at the end of their life cycle, yes, that is one of our biggest advantages. Our boards are made from one type of plastic, which means we can recycle them again. At the end of their useful life, they can be crushed and re-moulded into new boards without losing their properties. This process can be repeated up to 13 times, but due to the long lifespan of the boards, the current generation is likely to experience at most a second recycling.
Your collaboration with Green0meter began in 2024, when you decided to measure the carbon footprint of your flagship product - plastic regranulate board. What made you decide to do this?
Our main motivation was to achieve as much transparency as possible. From the very beginning, we wanted to not only make products from recycled materials, but also to minimize their impact on the planet as much as possible. We see that sustainability is not just about recycling, but also about the emissions and environmental impacts associated with the entire life cycle of a product.
Working with Green0meter has allowed us to get accurate data on what the true environmental impact of our products is. The results showed us that, for example, the production of our regranulate panels results in emissions of 27.05 kg CO2e per 32 kg panel. The largest contributor to this carbon footprint is the raw material extraction phase, which accounts for 62.69% of the total carbon footprint. By comparing the materials, we found that using plastic crumb could reduce the carbon footprint by a further 61%.
From trash to treasure: a demonstration of the raw materials used to make panels
Is there anything in the calculations that surprised you?
What surprised us most was how significantly the emission performance of the different materials varies. If we used plastic crumbs instead of regranulate, we could reduce the carbon footprint of our products by a further 61% to just 10.66 kg CO2e per panel. This is a key finding for us and motivates us to continue optimising our production processes.
At the same time, if we were to produce our boards from virgin raw materials rather than recycled materials, emissions would be higher, by up to 85%.
When we started working with Green0meter, we wanted to get accurate data on the real environmental impact of our products. Our goal was to make sure that our environmental communication was not just lip service, but backed up by hard data. This is because we perceive that there are many companies that are currently resorting to greenwashing and we want to consistently avoid this.
Tackling greenwashing with data is definitely the way to go. Interestingly, plastics are often perceived negatively in the Czech Republic when it comes to their sustainability. How does the market in the Czech Republic and abroad perceive your products? Do you think that measuring carbon footprint can help change this perception?
Yes, that's right. In the Czech Republic, plastics are often a taboo material when it comes to sustainability. Many people still associate them with disposable products and environmental pollution. Our aim is to break this stereotype and show that plastics can be part of a sustainable solution if they are properly processed and recycled.
In foreign markets where sustainability is a priority, our recycled plastic sheets are seen as an innovative and responsible solution. Measuring our carbon footprint is a great advantage in this context. The data we collect helps us not only to identify areas for improvement, but also to convince our customers and partners that our products are truly sustainable.
Thanks to Green0meter's calculations, we know that our circular approach is correct and leads to a reduced environmental impact. By using 32 kg of recycled plastic for each panel, which would otherwise end up in landfill or incineration, 60.29 kg of CO₂ emissions are avoided for every panel made from shredded recycled plastic.
Plastic Guys panels can also be found in the Punkt espresso bar in Brno.
How do you feel about cooperation with us?
Overall, we evaluate the project and our cooperation with Green0meter very positively. The process of measuring our carbon footprint was thorough and professional and the results have provided us with valuable information that has helped us to better understand the impact of our production processes. Particularly useful for us was the detailed breakdown of emissions by production stage and materials used.
Thank you very much for your feedback. Last question: what are you working on now in Plastic Guys and what are your plans for the future?
At Plastic Guys we are constantly trying to push the boundaries. We are currently working on expanding our production capacity, which will allow us to increase production and also offer new boards in the largest format on the market, 3x1.3m. Part of this expansion includes testing new technologies that will allow us to reduce our consumption and therefore our carbon footprint.
We also plan to introduce a buyback programme so that our boards can be recycled repeatedly. In the future, we want to obtain other certifications such as hygiene certificate or EPD and expand our activities to foreign markets.
Thank you very much for the interview and fingers crossed!
Photo source: Plastic Guys
Comments