Envision Charlotte creates PPE out of plastic containers

A local collaborative in Charlotte, North Carolina, is collecting leftover takeout containers to make personal protective equipment (PPE) for health care workers battling COVID-19 on the front lines, reports Spectrum News North Carolina.

The public-private collaboration between Duke Energy and Charlotte Center City Partners, called Envision Charlotte, has been collecting used containers from sites across the city to be used to create filament for 3D printers. The printers then turn the former food containers into face shields and other PPE supplies.

“In times like this people need to be innovative and creative, and there are solutions and there are different ways to look at things,” said Amy Aussieker, executive director of Envision Charlotte. “If you ever would have said to someone before, in a year you could take your takeout containers and you can turn it into PPE for front line workers, who would have thought? And now we’re making it a reality.”

The initiative is also part of Envision Charlotte’s mission to divert waste from the landfills and repurpose it for the community.

"It’s not hard, it’s really simple, and if you think about it, everyone wants to do something about climate change.  This is one of those things that you can have a direct impact on, keeping things out of the landfill, understanding what can be recycled and can’t be recycled, and putting them into cool programs like this," Aussieker told Spectrum News.