Precious Plastic: An Open Source Recycling Project on the Brink

Precious Plastic, an open-source project promoting plastic recycling, faces a critical financial and legal crisis. The project, which releases iterative versions of its recycling technology for free, boasts a global network of over 1100 organizations across 56 countries. However, its open-source model has led to chronic funding shortages and a lack of a sustainable business model. A lawsuit in New York and high software development costs have exacerbated the crisis. The team is now appealing to the community for support, seeking funding and volunteers to continue development of a new version; otherwise, the project may cease to exist.