The TK Watersports Recycled Kayaks Project

The TK Watersports team have been collecting up our used HDPE plastic such as milk bottles, shower gel and shampoo containers, along with kitchen cleaner bottles etc ready to be cut up and shredded.

Examples of HDPE plastic are

• Milk Bottles
• Shower Gel Bottles
• Kitchen Cleaner Bottles
• Bathroom Cleaner Bottles
• Motor Oil Containers
• Fizzy Drink Bottle Screwcaps
• Some Plastic Fast Food Containers

We’ve been sourcing our used plastic with the help of friends and family, and with the help of the following organisations.

• Weston Mill Primary School
• Greencore Plymouth
• Clare’s Snacks
• Spar Shops (Dale Road & Pennycomequick)
  

Having collected up our used HDPE plastic, it’s then cut into small pieces before being cut up even further in an old kitchen blender! We end up with very small pieces of plastic that can be easily melted down to form a new object.

The colour of the plastic determines what colour the kayak could be if black carbon is not added to the mix.

The cut up plastic is then sent to the factory where it’s ground down even further to form a powder. This powder has dyes added at this point at the chosen black colour, and is then measured, and poured into the kayak mould. The mould is sealed, placed into an extremely hot oven, where the powder is melted down at over 200’c, rotating and tilting, forming the new kayak.

We aim to have our next fleet of boats made out of the plastic we’ve collected avoiding it going to landfill.

This ambitious project further reinforces TK Watersports aim of being 100% carbon neutral and environmentally friendly business.

The moulding of our plastic into new kayaks will be undertaken by Palm Equipment in conjunction with Odyssey Innovation.