West firm helping to build refugee shelters
SOMERSET-BASED company is making “an important difference” abroad by recycling plastic to help build refugee shelters.
Protomax Plastics, which is based in Frome, is a plastic engineering specialist company that has focused on finding ways to recycle plastic into new uses.
As part of its work, it has developed technology enabling waste plastic to be recycled into Storm Board, a strong and durable alternative to plywood suitable for a range of uses.
Protomax has now stepped up its efforts to apply their developments by shipping one of its plastic recycling machines to Jordan, where it will be used by Swiss company BOXS AG to create refugee centres from Storm Board from plastic waste that is created by existing refugee camps.
These shelters will then be delivered as part of humanitarian project aid in the Middle Eastern country.
The machinery is being carried in a shipping container and in order to allow ease of use and safe storage, the team at Protomax designed and created a mechanical arm to allow the machinery to move easily in and out of the container for operation.
Nick Stillwell, the owner of Protomax, said he hoped the technology would “make an important difference” to those who are currently living in difficult conditions overseas.
He said: “The driving force behind Protomax and Storm Board is to take the problem of waste plastic and recycle it into something useful, durable and reusable. The refugee camps in Jordan contain a large number of people, all of whom need shelter from the elements. In addition, with large volumes of people unfortunately comes the problem of large amounts of plastic waste.
“It was clear to us that Protomax and Storm Board technology could help to address both of these issues, but there was the challenge of how to get the equipment there and how to store it.
“We came up with a solution that allows ease of shipping and ease of use, which means that the equipment is now ready to make an important difference to those living in incredibly difficult conditions in Jordanian refugee camps.”
Storm Board was first developed following the 2010 Haiti earthquake, with Mr Stillwell seeing an opportunity to recycle waste plastic to build weatherproof shelters for those in need.
Protomax currently recycles around 600 tonnes of plastic per year, that would otherwise be disposed of in landfill or incinerated, at a much greater environmental cost.
The refugee camps in Jordan contain a large number of people, all of whom need shelter from the elements NICK STILLWELL