National & World News

Upcycled Cutting Board Made From Plastic Bottle Caps

Matt and Jonny, the UK-based siblings and content creators of Brothers Make, have

designed an upcycled cutting board made from used plastic bottle tops.

Matt, a design and technology secondary school teacher, and Jonny, a senior account manager at a

marketing firm, started making things together in 2018 as a way of spending more quality time

together which eventually led to launching a YouTube channel.

After gaining traction, the brothers opened an online store selling products made using 100 per cent

recycled waste plastic. The shop sells a variety of things, ranging from plant pots, coasters and coffee

caddies to buttons, Māori Pendants and guitar picks.

To ensure the chopping boards comply with safety standards, the brothers say that all the plastic that

they receive is hand-sorted to ensure it is food-grade HDPE plastic and that there are no non-plastic

contaminants left on the plastic. They then run the plastic through three sorting and cleaning cycles

before being heated. They also said that they keep the heating process at around 140-160 degrees so

that no fumes are introduced to the plastic or burning occurs.