Interview with 99recycle: Using Recycled Plastic in Russian Eco-Design

Companies involved in the recycling of secondary materials face a number of challenges. Firstly, one of the main problems is the instability of prices for recyclable materials, which complicates budget planning and makes business less predictable. Secondly, there are high costs associated with the collection, sorting, and processing of materials, which can also impact profitability.
Furthermore, companies may face a lack of infrastructure for the efficient collection and processing of recycled materials. This often leads to logistical difficulties and increased order fulfillment times. It is also necessary to consider legislative and environmental regulations, which may change and require additional investment to comply. Uncertainty in demand for recycled products also presents a significant obstacle. This can lead to the accumulation of surpluses and, consequently, financial losses. It is also important to consider that successful work in this area requires the involvement of qualified personnel, which can be a complex task. Thus, companies working with secondary raw materials face many challenges that require a thoughtful approach and flexible management. Who are the bureau's main clients? In Russia, sources of materials intended for recycling are varied. First and foremost, this includes waste generated during production and consumption, including packaging materials, glass, metal, and plastic products. Recycled materials also play an important role, collected at specialized collection points where individuals and organizations can bring their unwanted items for recycling.
Furthermore, industrial enterprises often collect and recycle their own waste, which helps reduce the cost of new materials and minimize the negative impact on the environment. Importantly, government initiatives and recycling programs contribute to raising public awareness and increasing the collection of recycled materials.
Furthermore, there are recycling companies that work directly with suppliers of recycled materials, creating closed recycling loops and ensuring sustainable resource use.
Over the past three years, the company has undergone significant changes. We have seen growth in various areas, including expanding our product range and improving customer service. The introduction of new technologies has allowed us to optimize internal processes and increase efficiency.
Furthermore, our team has grown significantly, which has contributed to strengthening our professionalism and introducing fresh ideas. We have also expanded our geographic presence, which has allowed us to attract new clients and strengthen our market position.
The company's strategy has evolved, helping it adapt to new conditions and customer needs. As a result of these changes, the company has achieved sustainable growth and improved its reputation.
Determining the number of people needed to produce 7,500 eco-bags requires considering various factors, such as the volume of work, the specialization of the workers, and the time required to produce each bag. Typically, efficient production requires a team of several people, depending on the organization of the workflow. For example, if each employee is capable of producing a certain number of bags per day, the total number of employees can be calculated based on order fulfillment times.

Alexander Semenov is one of the founders of the sustainable development bureau 99recycle, which specializes in creating souvenirs, clothing, and furniture from recycled materials.

Launch of the 99recycle initiative

Our project is almost four years old. It all started in the summer of 2018, when two of my longtime friends, Anton Rykachevsky and Sergei Ibragimov, with whom I went to school, came up with the idea of recycling waste. We were inspired by the Dutch project Precious Plastic.

Dave Hakkens, one of the co-founders, created equipment that is similar to industrial plastic recycling systems. The main idea behind his design is that these machines can be installed even in a home garage. He prepared technical drawings and organized an international community – anyone can visit the Precious Plastic website, download the provided plans, and, using available materials, build a recycling system at home. When Anton and Seryozha decided to implement the concept of this project, I immediately decided to join them.

Shopping bag made from recycled bags Photo: 99recycle

My story began with me sorting waste and taking it to collection points - at that time, these were containers for PET recycling. Recycling activists were concerned about one important question: does a forklift that picks up two different fractions and dumps them into a single container actually recycle them correctly? My friends and I also had doubts about this, and ultimately decided to try recycling our own waste.

Initially, I worked in physics, and my two teammates were in programming. We had no background in industrial design. About six months after the project's launch, we began expanding our team, and now we have specialists in industrial design, technology, and creative thinking.

Initially, our goal was to start recycling waste. However, after we assembled the setup, we came up with the idea to expand on this project and create something new from recycled materials.

When we began building the setups using Precious Plastic's designs, we noticed that their proposed assembly method using readily available materials proved difficult to implement. For example, finding a motor that met their specifications was nearly impossible. As a result, we had to develop our own designs. At first, we adapted their designs, but a year later, we began producing equipment that was unique to the Precious Plastic project: large-scale 3D printers, large-scale heat presses, and other devices.

About six months after the start of our project, we opened our first production line and began producing various products. We were invited to the Znak Ravenstva festival in St. Petersburg, and we decided to create bags and accessories for sale at the event. This turned out to be a very successful move!

At the beginning, we had only one production line, consisting of two machines. The first was a crusher designed for crushing plastic. The second was an extruder, which receives the resulting plastic crumbs and produces recycled material. This material can be used for pouring into molds or winding onto various products.

After spending time at the festival, where we tried selling souvenirs, we realized that we had a desire to start a business. This prompted us to develop various aspects of our project.

Unique aspects of functioning in natural conditions

Our company covers several areas, which is one of the key features of our business. First and foremost, we manufacture the equipment we use in our operations. Previously, we offered custom manufacturing of such equipment, but we have now abandoned this practice. Using our equipment, we produce bags and keychains from recycled plastic for various companies, and we also make furniture.

Box for the limited edition adidas Stan Smith Photo: 99recycle

We are also actively involved in educational activities. We travel around the country with our equipment, conducting workshops and lectures where we share information about recycling and demonstrate how the process works. Environmental education is of great importance, and for us, it's not only an important mission but also a way to promote our ideas. Anyone can attend our workshops, bring their own plastic cap, grind it into pellets, and then melt the material into a small badge to take home. This approach helps people not only learn about recycling but also see it in action, which is its main advantage.

We're not alone in manufacturing from recycled materials, but 99recycle stands out in that our products are aimed at using nearly 100% recycled components.

In fact, in manufacturing, recycled plastic is usually not used in its pure form, but is combined with virgin plastic. According to available data, adding even 20% recycled plastic is considered quite risky. Another common method is mixing recycled plastic with sand, which is then used to make polymer-sand tiles.

Recycled fabrics can be made from 100% recycled materials. However, it should be noted that most of these textiles come from China, while Russia does not produce similar fabrics.

In addition to thorough recycling, there is also the option of upcycling. With this method, the material is not recycled or remelted, but is given a "second life" in the form of new products.

An example is boats and trampolines, which are made from PVC fabrics. These fabrics are only partially plastic, making them impossible to recycle. Therefore, the only option is cutting and sewing the material into new products. We use such materials to create bags and backpacks.

Cosmetic bag for Flacon Magazine Photo: 99recycle

The key problem associated with the use of recycled materials is the preparation and processing of the raw materials. For example, the PVC scraps we receive often contain punctures and abrasions, arriving in crumpled bags. Selecting usable scraps, as well as straightening and cleaning them, requires a significant amount of resources. Unlike regular fabric, which can be simply purchased, cut, and used immediately, this requires thorough washing and inspection for defects. Working with hard plastic also presents significant challenges. However, plastic lids are one of the few materials that are relatively easy to handle: they don't stain as easily and are easier to clean. In contrast, other types of recycled materials often arrive in forms that are difficult to recycle, such as food scraps. In addition, open storage of collected raw materials by collectors has a negative impact on both the quality of processing and the final products.

Badges for AvitoPhoto: 99recycle

Determining the cost of souvenirs is sometimes a difficult task - the question arises why products made from recycled materials are more expensive than those that are made from common materials. It often requires detailed explanations of production steps, sharing information about the degree of manual labor, and the use of various technologies.

When it comes to interior design options, our materials have many limitations. When discussing what can't be created from plastic sheets, many are surprised. People are often accustomed to working with plywood—buying a sheet at the store, bringing it home, cutting it, and crafting something themselves. However, polyethylene, used to make bottle caps, is highly flexible, so tabletops or paneling must be securely attached to a metal frame. Furthermore, polyethylene doesn't mix well with other materials—it's virtually impossible to glue, so we join all elements mechanically.

Primary plastic is highly homogeneous—it comes in the form of small granules that have an identical chemical composition and size. Recycled plastic also consists of granules, but its production process involves grinding up used materials. As a result of this production, it becomes heterogeneous. For example, even if the caps have the same markings, this does not guarantee that their properties will be identical, since each manufacturer adds different additives and dyes to the polyethylene. Nothing can be changed with this fact.

Chair for the Shu Archive store Photo: 99recycle

Transformation in the context of corporate values

About 50% of all requests we receive are related to the creation of souvenirs. Typically, such requests come from agencies working with large corporations. The remaining requests concern interior design solutions. Architects integrate elements made from recycled materials into their projects. We are also contacted by restaurant owners who are familiar with our work and want to use, for example, tabletops made of recycled plastic in their interiors.

Letters for an advertising sign Photo: 99recycle

Some organizations contact us with a request to provide their materials - they want to train their employees in the basics waste sorting and invite them to collect bottle caps. We then use these bottle caps to make countertops or tables. For these companies, it's important that they collect and sort what they've collected, and that their recycled materials are used to create useful products. We also accept old banners from companies or events and recycle them into bags.

For some, this may not be such a significant aspect; they simply want their products to be environmentally friendly. In such cases, we use materials we already have in stock.

Today, I'm convinced that products made from recycled plastic should be included in every company's product range.

There are also organizations whose marketing strategy focuses on current trends—these can be large companies or government agencies. I don't see anything negative in this: we create high-quality souvenirs for them, and it's nice that they're made from recycled, not new, resources. Additionally, there are those who turn to us because they share our values and approach.

About Material Sourcing

When working with rigid plastic, we collaborate with our favorite partner, the "Kryshechki DobroTY" project, based in St. Petersburg. They place containers in kindergartens and schools, and their distinctive feature is sorting the lids by color. We purchase the sorted lids from them for our production. If we don't have enough lids of a certain color, we order additional ones from a manufacturer of secondary granules, which are mainly made from industrial waste.

Phone stand Photo: 99recycle

We also collaborate with "Spasibo" stores, which collect unnecessary things in special containers. Citizens bring old clothes in plastic bags, after which we sort these items and take the bags ourselves. We also collaborate with boat and trampoline manufacturers, from whom we obtain PVC fabric. Our partners from Sew Dept. actively assist us in processing recycled materials for sewing. Previously, this sewing production was part of our project, but now operates as an independent business.

In general, we are capable of working with a variety of materials. However, at the moment, our most well-established processes are recycling bottle caps, PVC scraps, and plastic bags.

Three Key Focus Areas and Three Types of Eco-Business

Initially, there were three of us, but by the end of last year, we noticed that our team had expanded significantly. From the very beginning, we also had different views on business development. Therefore, we decided to split into three separate projects, each now operating under its own brand: 99recycle, Sew Dept, and EBURET studio. We maintain friendly relations and continue to share resources.

During our collaboration, the sewing workshop, like other production facilities, experienced fluctuating workloads, leading to periods of downtime due to a lack of orders. At some point, it became clear that for sustainable operations, we needed to begin collaborating with external clients. Currently, the sewing workshop operates under the Sew Dept brand, headed by Olesya Kulik. It continues to implement 99recycle projects while also accepting orders from other clients.

Reception desk of the Get Ready Space beauty salon Image: Maria Kataryan / courtesy of 99recycle

Another interesting project is EBURET studio, which specializes in the production of furniture and interiors. Its core business is developing furniture using 3D printing from recycled polystyrene. We concluded that going independent would be the most effective way to organize distribution and attract orders.

The company I manage, 99recycle, continues to produce a variety of products, including merch, furniture, and interesting items that are available for purchase in our store.

From Consumer Habits to Global Transformations

In 2019, SIBUR approached us with a request to produce 7,500 bags. At the time, this seemed unusual to us, while today such an order volume is perceived as common practice. We didn't even fully realize the scale of the task we were facing.

We were faced with the task of quickly solving a number of problems. First of all, we were under a tight deadline, and it was clear the team might not meet the established schedule. So, we launched a search for assistants through social media. Over a hundred people responded within a week, of which we selected about fifty. These assistants took turns supporting us in the process of reviewing and sorting materials.

Colors of waist bags for SIBUR Photo: 99recycle

The second problem concerned the source of raw materials. We had bags of PVC and trampoline scraps in our warehouse, but we had no clear idea of how much we had. When we decided to measure and weigh our inventory, we discovered it was only a quarter of what we needed. We started calling all the boat and trampoline manufacturers in St. Petersburg and across the country. Eventually, we found the required amount of material, although initially no one understood why we wanted to buy scraps that would usually be thrown away. It was thanks to us that companies realized that such waste could be in demand and could be a source of income. As a result, one of these companies became our main supplier.

We completed the work within the established deadline, and the project provided us with a variety of infrastructure solutions.

Flower Key Tag Photo: 99recycle

A recent project we worked on was the office of a department store management company "Tsvetnoy."

Earlier this year, we received a request from the architectural firm Blockstudio, which designed the entire "Tsvetnoy" complex, including their office space. Designers often approach us in search of unique materials. However, we don't have an established process for producing plastic sheets, so we prefer to implement turnkey projects. For example, we offer not just panels for the bar counter, but create the entire counter.

Sink counter in the office of the Tsvetnoy department store Photo: 99recycle

This project presented an exciting challenge for our team. The designers decided to use massive sinks to decorate the bathrooms. In this regard, we had to create brackets from recycled plastic. This required significant engineering work - it was necessary to develop a structure capable of supporting significant weight, and also to ensure that the sheets were securely fastened to the frame.

Of course, among us there are competitors who are engaged in similar areas: they make souvenirs, sew bags from recycled materials, or use banners. Initiatives are also emerging that focus on consulting rather than production - such projects visit companies and explain how to organize corporate processes in an environmentally responsible manner.

I believe this is evidence of the transformation that is taking place. Nowadays, many organizations strive for environmental sustainability based on their moral principles.