Petr Bláha - ambassador, popularizer of 3D printing together with Plastenco and master in his field, who was at the birth of the printing community in the Czech Republic. He has many activities to his credit, thanks to which this topic has gained a space for visibility and improvement in our country.

I didn't leave the school, the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University, after I graduated. My goal was to stir up my surroundings. After all, students cannot leave school without addressing the world's problems. They should feel that they are saving the world with what they have learned in school. I began to address the world's plastic disaster from my position as an educator. This role has offered me many helpers each semester.

I wanted PET bottles to be used to build houses. I really tried it and made my poor students try it too. In my book The PET Bottle Architecture Phenomenon, I collected examples of buildings from all over the world. Yes, it can be done. But honestly, building houses out of PET bottles is the music of the past, a matter of fine art and the architecture of less technically advanced cultures. Today, our civilization can process these bottles. Their life is mostly short: only 2 months on average. Then, by recycling them into plastic fibre, they become everyday objects: carpets and car mats, cordage and non-woven fabrics, sleeping bags, sweatshirts, jackets, nappies. The material is reworked and its original form is not found in man-made fibre products.

How does Plastenco further engage in the field of 3D printing from recycled plastic? We would like to introduce you to our ambitious PlastIT project, with which we were awarded 5th place in the public competition of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Programme for Support of Applied Research and Experimental Development - TREND, organized by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic. PlastIT is a revolutionary combination of 3D printing technology, artificial intelligence and ecological design with the aim of transforming the way we look at the use of plastic waste.

Design largely influences the potential level of environmental impacts of products (literature suggests that up to 80% of impacts are predetermined at the design stage)[1]. At Plastenco, we are fully aware of the responsibility we bear and therefore strive to optimize all our processes to minimize our environmental impact. However, we are also not indifferent to the economic and social pillars of sustainability; in our projects we strive to create stories and connect the community. This article will give you an insight into how we approach sustainability and what steps we take to meet the ESG expectations of our clients and partners.