PRECIOUS PLASTIC BAMBERG

"Kunststoff Manufaktur Bamberg": Plastic Manufactur in our hometown Bamberg

For a long time we have been considering joining the worldwide Precious Plastic movement and acquiring our own machines for Bamberg. In 2022 we succeeded in doing so. Thanks to a support fund of the city of Bamberg, the donations of the Gaia Protection project “Plastik Evolution” and the support of the Support Association “Hand in Hand” of the “Lebenshilfe Bamberg e.V.”, we were able to buy professional plastic recycling machines from the Austrian manufacturer plasticpreneur. The vision of Precious Plastic is to enable anyone in the world to build the plastic recycling machines and make a difference locally, using an open-source manual. The name Precious Plastic also says a lot about the ambition of this movement: Plastic should be perceived and used as a valuable raw material and no longer as a disposable or throwaway product. We share this view, which is why we offer “hands-on” educational workshops. We discuss the topics of waste, the circular society, resource conservation and the impact of our waste (especially plastic, of course) on our environment. The highlight of the workshops is the hands-on work with the recycling machines. This offer is mainly addressed to educational institutions, but not exclusively! We would also like to offer such workshops for festivals, companies and other institutions. In the school year 2022/2023 we already offered the workshop at several schools around Bamberg. So we were at the Franz-Ludwig-Gymnasium, Dientzenhofer-Gymnasium, ETA-Hoffmann-Gymnasium, Berufschule I and the Heidelsteigschule. We also visited the middle school in Breitengüsbach, the elementary school in Zeil and Sand am Main, Don-Bosco-Förderschule in Stappenbach and Walburg-Realschule in Eltmann. For the school year 2023/24 we want to expand our offer and continue cooperation with schools. The focus is also on reaching a wide audience and offering further workshops at middle schools and apprenticeship schools in order to promote environmental awareness and behaviour among pupils from socially disadvantaged backgrounds.

Our cooperation with the Bamberger Lebenshilfe

To use the machines for more than just our environmental education work, we very soon brought the “Bamberger Lebenshilfe Werkstätte” on board. Lebenshilfe has already been producing sustainable products for several years, in addition to various industrial orders. The machines are now permanently located in the Lebenshilfe facilities and have been operated by employees with disabilities since summer 2023. Thus, these machines create jobs for people with disabilities and contribute to their integration in society by allowing them to pursue a meaningful and sustainable activity. Part of the income from the products goes to Lebenshilfe and is used to pay the wages of the employees. The other part is reinvested in local and sustainable projects by the association Gaia Protection.

How our project affects our hometown

In order to integrate the citizens of Bamberg into the project, plastic collection points are gradually being installed at various public institutions, to enable the “Lebenshilfe” to transform plastic waste into new products. In addition, the “Lebenshilfe” is currently building additional collection points for its own residential homes in order to integrate people with disabilities. Further collection points are to be set up at the recycling yards in the city and district of Bamberg. Feel free to contact us if you have any further ideas on how to collect plastic in the Bamberg area!

The possibilities for further cooperation are enormous! In 2023, Professor Schellenberg of the University of Bamberg conducted a marketing study as part of a seminar to design useful recycled products. In addition, our board member Pauline Reichelt wrote her master’s thesis on environmental psychology about the workshops in order to determine the added value of recycling during the workshops . Further research related to the project and the workshops are still pending.

We are looking for lecturers for our workshops!

Do you want to work with the machines and teach young people more about plastic consumption in everyday life?

The aim is to raise awareness for a sustainable circular economy and to critically reflect on the issue of plastic – plastic is not always bad, but finite and can be recycled. In the workshop, the raw material plastic is processed on the basis of different contents and the work with the machines.

For participation in the design or execution of the workshops, there is a small monetary compensation.

Please contact us at:

Further development

At the moment, meaningful and beautiful products are being developed that can be injected from recycled plastic. We are and remain open to suggestions and ideas from the public.
In addition, all donations to the project currently go towards the purchase of a hand shredder. The electrically operated shredder is unfortunately very heavy and is well suited for large-scale production such as in life support, but it is simply unsuitable for workshops at different locations.

You want to donate to that project?

Visit the Fundraising Platform of GaiaGives:

You can always contact us through our kontact sheet:

More Information – Bamberger Lebenshilfe – Werkstätte