Plastic recycling
training
Remote by the hour, on site by the day, or free.
Sustainable Design Studio trains the people who will actually run the machines. Remote sessions by the hour, in-person days at your workshop anywhere in the world, and a free library of guides and live webinars. Bring as many people as you like, there is no per-head charge on any of it. Every machine already ships with a build guide and a manual, so start with a free 30-minute call and we will tell you what you actually need.
- Unlimited participants, no per-head charge
- £80 an hour remote, £280 a day on site
- Five days free with orders over £10,000
A lot of this is already free
Before you pay Sustainable Design Studio anything for training, know what already comes with the machine and what is free to everyone. Every machine ships with a full illustrated build guide and a user manual, the resource library is open to anyone, and the first conversation costs nothing.
Plenty of teams get running on those alone. Paid training is for when you want to go faster than that, or when your situation is specific enough that generic documentation stops helping.
Step-by-step build guides
Every machine ships with a full illustrated build guide, photographed step by step, in five languages. It is the same document our own workshop builds from.
User manuals
Operation, materials, maintenance, troubleshooting and the safety procedures, written for the person running the machine rather than the person who bought it.
The resource library
A large and still growing database of guides covering plastic types, mould use, workshop setup, product design and full how-to builds. No account, no purchase.
A free 30-minute call
Email us with the basics of your project and we will talk it through. No charge and no obligation. This is the conversation we have with most clients before they decide anything.
It is an
accelerator.
Documentation is general by necessity. Training is not. We work with the plastics that are actually around you, the machines you actually bought, and the product you are actually trying to make, and we build a workflow that fits all three.
That is the difference between reading how injection moulding works and having a process that runs in your workshop, with your waste stream, by the end of the week.
Three ways to get trained
Remote sessions charged by the hour, in-person days at your site charged by the day plus travel, and a free library that costs nothing and never expires. Nothing is charged per person, so train as many people as you want in one session. Every route starts with the same free 30-minute call.
Screen-share sessions with the people who will actually run the machine. Setup, first run, material selection, and working through whatever is going wrong. £80 per hour, booked in whole hours, with no limit on how many of your team join.
- Charged per hour, not per person
- As many people as you want
- Anywhere with a connection
We come to your workshop, in the UK or internationally, and train your whole team on your machines with your material. £280 per day plus travel, accommodation and food at cost, however many people are in the room.
- Charged per day, not per person
- As many people as you want
- Plus 55p/mile in the UK, or flights overseas
Written guides, build documentation, and live webinars covering the same ground as a paid session, at your own pace. No account, no purchase, no expiry.
- Guides and build documentation
- Live and recorded webinars
- No purchase needed
Built around your situation, not a fixed syllabus
The waste stream in the Caribbean is not the waste stream in West Africa, and neither is the waste stream in the UK. So we start with what is actually available around you, then build a workflow that fits it. Pick the topics below that matter to your project and we will scope the session around those.
Plastic identification
Which plastics are actually around you, how to tell them apart without a lab, and which ones are worth collecting. We cover burn and float tests, recycling codes, and the identification tool. This is where most projects should start.
Plastic separation
Sorting, cleaning and preparing a mixed waste stream into feedstock you can actually run. Contamination is the single most common reason a first batch fails, and it is almost always fixable upstream.
Machine use
Running your machines properly: temperatures, cycle times, shot sizes, mould prep, and the maintenance that keeps output consistent. Hands-on if we are on site, screen-share and your own machine if we are remote.
Product design
Designing for what your machines and your material can actually do. Wall thickness, draft, shrinkage, and choosing products that suit the plastic you have rather than the plastic you wish you had.
Business plans
Unit economics, pricing, throughput, and what a realistic first year looks like. We will tell you if the numbers do not work, which is more useful than telling you they do.
Marketing
How to sell a recycled product: the story, the proof, the photography, and the channels that work for small-batch manufacturing. Recycled is a starting point, not a selling point on its own.
Health and safety
Fume extraction, hot surfaces, PPE, safe workflow layout, and the rules that apply where you are. Non-negotiable, and easier to build in at the start than to retrofit.
Case studies
What has worked, and what has not, on real projects in 94 countries. Usually the fastest part of a session, because someone has almost certainly hit your problem already.
Machine buyers
Spend £10,000.
Get five days free.
Place a single order of £10,000 or more on machines and we will come to you for five days of in-person training at no charge for our time. Anywhere in the world.
A machine that nobody has been shown how to run is an expensive shelf. At this order size the training matters more than the discount, so we give you the training instead.
Five days on site
Five full days of in-person training at your workshop, with your machines and your material. Our time and expertise are free.
Who qualifies
A single order of £10,000 or more on machines. Get in touch before you order and we will confirm eligibility in writing.
What you cover
Travel, accommodation and food at cost, with receipts. Internationally that means flights. Domestically it means mileage and a room if the trip needs one.
How to claim
Mention it when you enquire. We will scope the five days around what your team actually needs before anything is booked.
What an on-site day actually costs
The day rate is our time, and it does not change with the size of your team. Everything else on this list is a real cost we pass through at cost, with receipts, and never mark up. We would rather you saw the whole figure before you enquire than after.
Travel and accommodation are quoted per trip once we know the location and the number of days. Nothing is booked until you have approved the total in writing.
| Day rate | £280 per day, however many people you put in the room |
|---|---|
| Minimum booking | One full day. Half days are not offered on site, the travel makes them poor value for you. If you need less than a day, remote at £80 an hour is almost always the better buy. |
| Mileage (UK) | 55p per mile, round trip from our Hartley Wintney HQ in Hampshire |
| Flights (international) | At cost, economy, booked by us or by you. Your choice. |
| Accommodation | At cost, only where the trip cannot reasonably be done in a day. |
| Food | At cost, per person per day, for any overnight trip. |
| Travel time | Not charged. You pay for days in your workshop, not days on a plane. |
| Group size | No limit and no per-head charge, on site or remote. Bring everyone who will touch the machine. |
How booking works
Scoped first. Quoted second.
It starts with a free half-hour call, and nothing is charged until you have approved a quote. Tell us what your team already knows and what you need them to be able to do, and we will tell you how many hours or days that actually takes. Sometimes the answer is that the free resources will do it.
Free 30-minute call
Email us and we will talk it through for half an hour at no charge. Which machines you have or are about to buy, who will be running them, what plastics are around you, and what you need to make. This is the conversation we have with most clients before they decide anything.
We scope it
After the call we come back with a recommendation: remote hours, on-site days, or just the free resources. If the library and the build guides already cover what you need, we will say so rather than sell you a session.
You approve the quote
Rate, number of hours or days, and for on-site work an itemised travel estimate. Nothing is booked and nothing is billed until you have approved the total.
We train, then stay reachable
The session happens. Afterwards you keep our direct line for follow-up questions, which are not charged separately.
Start here. It costs nothing.
Plenty of teams never need a paid session. The written guides and build documentation cover setup, materials and first runs in the same detail we would cover them in person, and the free live webinars let you watch a demo and ask questions in real time. Work through these first and a paid session becomes a much shorter, much cheaper conversation.
Guide
Plastic types and recycling codes
Everything you need to know about the different types of plastics, their recycling codes, and how to work with each one.
Guide
3D printing vs injection moulding
A full breakdown of the advantages and disadvantages of desktop injection moulding compared to 3D printing.
Guide
How to make recycled sunglasses
A complete step-by-step guide to making a pair of sunglasses entirely from recycled plastic, using the Injection Mini V2.
Events and speaking
Invite us to speak
We speak at conferences, universities, schools, maker festivals and industry events on desktop plastic recycling, circular manufacturing, and what actually happens when you try to turn waste into product at small scale. Talks, panels, workshops, or a machine running live on a stand.
If you are organising something and want one of us there, get in touch with the date, the audience and roughly how long you need. We will tell you honestly whether we are the right fit.
What we cover
Desktop recycling technology, circular product design, running a small manufacturing operation, and the parts of it that are harder than they look.
Formats
Keynote, panel, hands-on workshop, or a working machine on a stand. Remote talks are fine and often quicker to arrange.
What it costs
It depends on the event, the travel and whether it is commercial. Schools and community events are treated differently from industry conferences. Ask.
Training questions, answered
What it costs, how it is scoped, and what happens if it is not right for you. Still unsure? Get in touch and we will reply within one working day.
Three ways to start
Book a free 30-minute call
Email us the basics of your project. Half an hour, no charge, no obligation.
Join a free webinar
Watch a live demo and ask questions. Costs nothing, commits you to nothing.
Book paid training
Remote by the hour or £280 per day on site. Scoped before it is quoted.