Recycled sea plastic made into floor tiles and a boat
After seeing tonnes of plastic littering a beach in Senegal, a young entrepreneur has started a business turning the waste into flooring tiles and panels, creating jobs in both France and Senegal.
Marius Hamelot launched La Sasminimum as a circular economy business to use HDPE material to create useful objects from the 98million tonnes of plastic that is not recycled each year.
That led to Le Pavé, the first floor tile made from 100% recycled plastic – but also in the creation of the recycled panels used by Plastic Odyssey, the planned round-the-world research boat that is made of – and powered by – plastic.
By June, the firm in Paris with Marius and two others had notched up its first tonne of recycled plastic that had been reused to make tiles, plastic sheeting and bathroom panelling.
Mr Hamelot said: “We created Le Pavé but we also develop other ideas and work with other businesses in the circular economy. It is vital that we find a way to give plastic waste a value.”
Partner firm Proplast in Senegal employs 1,000 collectors in the west African country to pick up plastic in the streets and off Atlantic beaches. It is sorted into different types with the HDPE being melted and extruded into coloured plastic beads to be reused for other objects, such as Le Pavé.
Tiles, like ‘click’ laminate flooring with a tongue and groove fitting, come in marble effect of different colours. Average price is €70-€200/m2 and flooring can be made to suit client needs.
