Alex Recycles and Creates

Alex Graziano

I've always been concerned with the environment. In 2021, while doing a research paper for a college english class, I became interested in recycling plastics into new products. In 2022, I constructed my shredder and started melting and reworking HDPE plastics into small plates. I started with planters, first, then after getting a CNC machine in 2024, I expanded onto items like coasters and keychains. A big problem with plastic is that only 9% gets recycled! The rest goes into landfills, oceans, or, worse yet for the environment, gets burned. I collect various types of single-use HDPE plastics - caps, milk & water jugs, and shampoo bottles - and clean, shred, melt, and mold them into easy to work plates. From these plates I create planters, coasters, and keychains to give these plastics a more permanent second life.