Remember the HDPE cutting board we made? (https://bit.ly/2FxcnlT) Well, we took the leftover plastic from that sheet and tried our hand at carving some spoons from it! We haven't done a huge amount of carving in the past, but enough to be able to tell that this stuff is a LOT harder to carve than wood which we were very surprised by! We really like the faceted texture on these spoons what do you guys think?

If you are concerned about the food safetyness off recycled HDPE then we have put our thoughts below. We would like to make one disclaimer here, which is that we do not advise any recycled HDPE projects be brought into contact with heat. The low melting temperature of the plastic means that it warps and deforms easily. These spoons will be for cold use only.. sugar, cereal, gazpacho etc!

In terms of HDPE and food safety... we have researched this fairly extensively and we are confident that our process is clean enough to produce foodgrade HDPE: HDPE is a foodgrade plastic, hence why it is used for milk bottles and packaging for other edible goods. This is most likely sourced from raw (or 'virgin') polymer which means that it has not gone through a recycling process. This issue with recycling plastic is that there are multiple avenues for the plastic to become contaminated. The 3 main ones being;
1) Remains from the previous content it was holding
2) Labels/residue left on the plastic itself
3) Potential 'burning' of the plastic, which introduces toxins (both as fumes and within the resulting plastic product itself)

We are very meticulous when it comes to the cleaning of our plastic. All plastic that we receive is handsorted to ensure it is indeed HDPE and that there are no nonplastic contaminants left on the plastic. We run the plastic through at least 3 sorting and cleaning cycles before we ever introduce it to heat. This covers (1) and (2). HDPE's burning point is anything over 180 degrees Celcius. We have had enough experience with melting this plastic to know when it has got too hot. We keep our over/grill at around 140160 degrees, which never introduces any fumes or burning to any of the plastic. This covers (3).

The US Food and Drug Administration has recently (March 2020) approved recycled HDPE to be used for food and drink packaging providing the feedstock is foodgrade and contaminant concentrations were below its “threshold of regulatory concern” (0.5 parts per billion or less in the food). [https://bit.ly/33F4Ueq]

If you are still concerned about the use of recycled HDPE for use with food then feel free to not use it yourself! We have done the research and have decided that we think it is safe based on our specific process.

This video is not telling you that you have to do this, rather it is showing you what is possible! If you enjoyed the video or learnt something new, please consider subscribing. Thanks!

#BrothersMake #HDPE #PreciousPlastic #HDPERecycling #RecycledPlastic #RecycledPlasticBottles #PlasticRecycling #SpoonCarving

FAQ:
➡ We don't currently sell any of our product but we are looking to in the future keep an eye on our instagram!
➡ HDPE doesn't give off any smells or toxic fumes when melted providing it is kept below the burning point of 180 degrees C (we stick to 150160 C).
➡ We don't buy any of our plastic. It all comes from collection and donations. We have a video all about it: https://bit.ly/2RsbhKA
➡ Our workshop is powered 100% by renewable energy. We don’t use any energy from fossil fuels whatsoever.
➡ The black sheets we use on the grill are called 'Teflon Baking Mats': https://amzn.to/33sIKdx
➡ The gloves we use are called 'Silicomne Oven Mits' https://amzn.to/2ZxwUh9

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