CIRCULAR ECONOMIES: SUSTAINABLE TRANSFORMATION OF WORKSHOP WASTE INTO EDUCATIONAL TOOLS

This paper presents the Circular Economies in Design Workshops project, an initiative focused on transforming plastic waste into educational resources to advance sustainability within the university and help align with broader EU sustainability goals. Through hands-on processes like desktop injection moulding, students repurpose plastic waste into tools and components for educational purposes whilst also promoting sustainable practices in design workshops. The paper will discuss the project’s objectives, methods, and student involvement and consider the broader implications for sustainability, education and student-championed institutional change. Ireland ranks among the EU’s highest offenders for unrecycled plastic waste. Of the 53.1 million tons of plastic waste produced, only 38% is estimated to be recycled (Eurostat, 2022). Within the university, workshops for design and engineering activities currently lack facilities for recycling waste plastic. This, combined with constrained budgets and the rising cost of materials, creates significant challenges to student engagement and the adoption of sustainable practices. The Circular Economies in Design Workshops project aims to reduce the waste generated from plastic-based activities in the workshops by repurposing the waste stream to create project components and educational tools, benefiting students and staff. The project employs active, experiential learning to instil industry-relevant recycling skills in students and staff. It seeks to actively engage students in waste management in these spaces by transforming plastic waste into a usable material stream, fostering a culture of environmental responsibility within the university. This project also seeks to provide students with a practical understanding of how plastic can be repurposed within their projects. This will be achieved through manufacturing methods such as Injection moulding and FDM (Fused Deposition Modelling) 3D Printing whilst also learning the practical requirements of part design for injection moulding and mould tool design. This approach is expected to reduce plastic waste by 50% within workshop environments, promoting a shift in student attitudes towards recycling and resource management. In the near future, other modules and courses will likely participate and help reach our TU-Dublin sustainability goals. Participation from external organisations is also expected. This project will act as a pillar to support the foundational work of two projects within organisations external to the university. The project aims to inspire other universities and organisations to adopt similar practices by aligning with EU sustainability targets, setting a precedent for integrating circular economy models into educational spaces. The design workshops represent only a portion of the university’s overall waste plastic output, underscoring the potential for broader implementation across a wider range of lab and workshop facilities and a greater potential to improve the waste profile of the institution.