From plastic waste to ice scrapers - and much more!

The journey of a special product that combines sustainability and community begins in a small workshop in Nicaragua. The journey begins with our social and environmentally conscious projects: the events of Buy Food with Plastic, where people from the surrounding villages can pay for a warm meal with collected plastic bottles. Christian, our truck driver, brings them to our workshop, where Johanna and Luis, our recyclers, take a close look at them. The caps and rings are removed from the bottles, and everything is carefully sorted by color. 

The caps and rings are made of a different material than the bottles themselves and can be excellently processed by our simple machines. We sell the PET bottles to a larger recycling partner, with the long-term dream of one day buying our own bottle processing machine – even though it would cost around 8 million francs. But even today, the caps and rings can be used to make great products. 

A favorite product in Nicaragua is the surf comb – perfect for the waves and life on the coast. Many tourists love it too. 11 shops in Nicaragua work as sales partners with Buy Food with Plastic together. The surf comb also made its way into several Swiss surf shops.

While surfing is an everyday hobby in Nicaragua, it is less common in Switzerland. But even in our climate zone, the surf comb has another use: It is excellent as an ice scraper! A small, versatile product that is sustainable and social from production to use and can be recycled again and again. 

This is how a simple plastic cap becomes not only a useful tool, but also a symbol of the circular economy and community – a bridge between the waves of Nicaragua and the snow-covered roads of Switzerland. 

But that is not all we can make from recycled plastic caps. It only takes a new mold, from which we can make further products. We have already made game pieces and garden shovels, among others. In the future, we hope to work with other companies to make great new products. We are always open to joint collaborations. 

Get your own icescr aper for the winter.