Katana Upcycle
This was a community business located in Katana, managed by a recycler named Jayantha. Katana is very close to the industrial zone and as a result industrial waste material were abundant. Jayantha collected industrial waste in the area in bulk such as plastics, fabrics, paper etc. then segregated them and sold. Since he had a knowledge on plastic types from his previous job, he melted HDPE, LDPE and PP and produced plastic pellets.
Jayantha had attended one of our workshops and made a request for us to develop his business in to an upcycling business. Since he had the access to a vast range of materials there was a good opportunity to develop a range of products. His ability to identify plastics types was an additional advantage. It was decided to give him a laminating press machine to develop his business.
As a start we collected samples of all the material types he regularly got and I did experiments on developing composite materials for several months using the laminating press. As a result, I was able to develop a range of materials with different material properties. Later we did a assessed the skill level of the community group and based on that I developed a range of products that can be marketed in Sri Lanka.
Design Considerations
Availability of materials
Possibility of manufacturing using a laminating press machine
Skill level of the community group
Marketability of the products
Our team did a range of workshops for the community group from material selection, composite material production, making the composite materials more aesthetically pleasing, quality controlling and packaging etc. The manager of the community group had an inborn talent for marketing and we were able to give him some pointers on highlighting the sustainable factor of the products.
I came up with the brand name ‘Katana upcycle’ for the new and developed brand and then developed a logo and branding materials such as product tags, banners etc. With the success in product manufacturing we did several experiment on selling Katana upcycle items on a business venue named Good markets.
On the way social media platforms were introduced to Katana upcycle and it has become on of the prominent upcycling brand in Sri Lanka with a good brand recognition and a good income.
