Australia's Leading Hands-On Recycling Experience

Precious Plastic Melbourne Recycle Lab is the premier destination for schools and teams to experience the power of plastic transformation first-hand.

Step into the Lab. Get on the tools. Transform waste with Precious Plastic Melbourne.

The Recycle Lab is where material science meets hands-on action. Based in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, our Lab is a world-class, interactive workspace built for schools and teams who want to do more than just talk about the circular economy. We provide a professional, controlled environment where you’ll move onto the production floor to process hard-to-recycle plastics using our innovative Australian-made machinery. It’s a tactile, immersive experience where you don’t just learn about the circular economy - you’re the one closing the loop.

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Explore our Recycle Lab workshops:

  • Education

    Hands-On Excursions (Schools & Tertiary): Head into the Lab for a tactile look at the circular economy with our STEM-focused, curriculum-aligned sessions. Our excursions are adjusted to suit the learning needs and age of your group, moving students from theory straight to the workshop floor. Depending on your focus, students participate in different stages of the recycling journey - from material sorting and mechanical shredding to moulding their own recycled items. Whether they are producing school bag tags or assembling their own recycled yo-yos, students leave with a physical product and a real-world understanding of how plastic is transformed.

    Head to our Education Incursions page here for more information on how we work with schools.

    Enquire now 

  • Corporate

    Corporate Innovation & Experiences: Step out of the office and get on the tools. Our corporate sessions are high-energy workshops designed to get your team thinking differently about waste while hitting your ESG goals. While we focus on a hands-on experience of the recycling process, sessions can be customised to align with your specific objectives - whether that’s a deep-dive into circular design theory or using custom-branded moulds to manufacture your own gear. It’s a unique, tactile environment for your team to connect, see the circular economy in action, and walk away with a product they actually made themselves.

    Head to our Corporate Events page here for more details on how we work with local organisations.

    Enquire now 

  • Public

    Public Recycling Workshops & Holiday Programs: We occasionally open the Lab to the public for creative workshops and school holiday programs. These sessions focus on the techniques of plastic transformation, giving you the chance to get hands-on with our machinery. You’ll learn the process of shredding and moulding while selecting your own colour blends to create one-of-a-kind items like vibrant yo-yos or succulent pots. It’s a chance to master the basics of recycling and take home something you’ve made from scratch.

    Specific product details and themes will be available for each scheduled workshop.

    Coming soon.

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The Recycle Lab is designed as a modular recycling line. Because every group is different, we customise your session flow to suit your age, focus, and the product you’re crafting. You’ll rotate through a selection of these key stages of plastic transformation:

  • Sorting and Identification station at Precious Plastic Melbourne Recycle Lab, showing a character categorising colourful plastic bottle caps by polymer type on a wooden workbench with storage tubs

    Station 01: Sorting & Identification

    Before we melt anything, we have to understand the material. Often a highlight for younger scientists and material-curious teams, this stage strips back the mystery of polymers. We’ll learn to identify and sort plastics by type and colour - a critical step to ensure a high-quality outcome in the circular economy.

  • Recycling workshop participant using a Zephyr Bros Benchtop Shredder to transform plastic waste into colorful flakes at the Mechanical Shredding station

    Station 02: Mechanical Shredding

    This is where the transformation begins. Get hands-on with our Aussie-made plastic shredders to reduce bulky plastic waste into clean, uniform flakes - now transformed into the 'raw' material we need for the next stage of the journey!

  • The Melt and Mould station featuring a participant using professional Zephyr Bros injection and extrusion machinery to process recycled plastic flakes into precision-moulded products

    Station 03: The Melt & Mould

    Witness the science of heat + pressure. Using our Zephyr Bros. extrusion and injection machinery, you’ll process your flake into its final form - transforming locally-sourced waste into a precision-moulded, functional product right before your eyes.

  • The Assembly and Finishing station at the Recycle Lab, where a character is hand-assembling a recycled plastic yo-yo from precision-moulded components on a wooden workbench

    Station 04: Assembly & Finishing

    Here, we move to the finished item. Depending on what you’ve crafted, this might involve technical assembly, or using sprue snips to tidy up edges. Whether you’re popping your creation onto a keychain, planting out succulents, or adding refills to your newly made pens, this is the moment where the loop is actually closed - by you.

What might you craft at your workshop?

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Workshop FAQs

Pricing

School & Corporate Workshops: Every session is a bit different. While we have structured rates for school excursions, our corporate workshops are tailored to your team’s specific goals. Drop us an enquiry and we’ll get a clear, itemised quote over to you.

Public Workshops: We don’t have any live public workshops just yet, but we're working on it! For future sessions, refer to the registration page of your selected workshop for pricing details - we hope to launch some public offerings soon.

Workshop Duration

School & Corporate Workshops: Workshops run for a minimum of 90 minutes. Our team will assist in establishing the ideal workshop timeframe for your needs at the time of booking.

Public Workshops: Refer to the registration page of your selected workshop for session duration details.

What To Wear

For a comfortable and safe workshop experience:
• Closed-toe shoes are are a must.
• We encourage you to tie back long hair.
• Leave long dangling jewelry at home for optimal comfort and safety whilst recycling.

Safety

We'll provide any necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) during your workshop to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience.

Information of machine-specific safety can be found via our machinery product pages.

Age Requirements

Education Workshops: Our Recycle Lab workshops are designed for secondary school students (or equivalent) and above. Looking for something for younger learners? We also offer exciting school incursions for younger age groups - see our Education page for more details.

Public Workshops: For School Holiday Program workshops, all school-aged children are welcome and must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. All other public workshops are suited to participants ages 12 and above. For safety reasons, participants under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian who is also required to book a spot in the workshop.

WWCC

All of our facilitators have current Working With Children Checks as a condition of employment. Staff are required to present their Working With Children Checks at your request.

What You'll Make

You can find examples of the kinds of products you'll be producing here. We'll provide tailored recommendations for Education and Corporate events.

For public workshops, specific details and themes will be available on the registration page for each scheduled workshop. This allows us to keep our offerings fresh and cater to different interests.

Custom Moulds

In order to enhance Corporate / Education workshop memorability and impact, PPM can produce branded moulds, ensuring that each participant-produced item bears the distinctive insignia of the event or the hosting brand or educational institution.

A range of standard moulds are available, or alternatively custom moulds can be produced to align with your event objectives.

What To Bring

We'll provide all the necessary materials you'll need to get creative! Unless otherwise specified on the registration page for your chosen workshop, you won't need to bring anything additional.

For corporate bookings: In some cases, we can collaborate with your brand to incorporate a BYO waste option into your custom workshop. During our initial discussions, we can provide clear instructions on suitable waste materials to contribute to your team's creative endeavors.

Accessibility

This venue is wheelchair accessible. For any accessibility enquiries, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Getting Here

Address:
18/8-10 Monomeeth Dr, Mitcham

Parking:
Some on-street parking is generally available.

Public Transport:
• 16-minute walk from Mitcham Station
• 16-minute walk from Heatherdale Station

Our Facilitators

Bill Verhagen, Education Facilitator at Precious Plastic Melbourne and Plastics Engineer with 35 years of industry experience

Education Facilitator

Bill Verhagen

Bill is a qualified Plastics Engineer and Business Graduate. He has 35+ years experience in plastics and packaging.

Bill was a Technical Specialist for one of Australia's first post-consumer plastics recycling projects, aimed at demonstrating that packaging could be recycled into new applications. He has worked on a number of developments, focused on improving packaging sustainability through Circular Economy principles.

Passionate about inspiring the next generation, Bill began educating in 2020. He is also the current Vice President of the Society Of Plastics Engineers (SPE) ANZ and a member of the Australian Institute Of Packaging (AIP).

Piers Mossuto, Co-Founder of Precious Plastic Melbourne and innovator of the Zephyr Bros. recycling machinery range

PPM Co-Founder

Piers Mossuto

Piers is one of the innovators behind the development of the 'Zephyr Bros' machinery range by Precious Plastic Melbourne- a series of small-scale plastics processing equipment designed for use in education, small business and community settings.

Earlier in his career, Piers has also spent time working as a Training Manager in adult education.

Now an expert in the area of community-focused ‘micro’ recycling, Piers also has an extensive background in business, co-founding his first sustainability-focused SME in 2014.

Explore our impact, and previous events via our live Impact Map!

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