Tiles made from plastic caps. Source: Kickstarter/Coldharbour TilesA startup in Rwanda is turning used plastic into colorful kitchen and bathroom tiles.

Coldharbour Tiles has created a catalog of waterproof and heat-resistant plastic tiles in different shapes (e.g., hexagon, rectangle, square), sizes (ranging from 2 cm wide to 15 cm wide) and colors (including metallic silver, gold and Mediterranean sea blue), which are dictated by the colors of available waste. The process of creating the tiles involves gathering the plastic waste from Rwandan trash collectors, washing and shredding it, and then placing it into a hexagonal, square or rectangular stainless steel molding. Once melted at 180° C, the plastic is then pressed into a tile and then polished with organic Rwandan beeswax. Six tiles can be produced at once, according company co-founder Emily Packer.

To raise funding for the start-up, Coldharbour Tiles has recently launched a Kickstarter campaign with the goal of raising $60,000 by mid-April.

“In Rwanda, the tile options are very limited, and I also didn’t want to create something that would end up back in the waste stream in another two or three years,” Packer said. “I like the idea of a product that has longevity and can be put up and left there for generations.”

Recognizing that the issue of plastic pollution is a global one, Packer along with Coldharbour Tiles co-founder Jake Calhoun, realized that discarded plastic objects such as shampoo bottles, lotion containers and bottle caps are free and plentiful, and consequently an ideal material for creating decorative tiles for the bathroom, kitchen or to resurface flat furniture like tabletops.

“We want to reshape people’s perceptions of how plastic waste can be used,” Packer said. “Right now, the relationship is that you use it once and throw it away, but plastic is actually a really durable, noble material if it’s used for the right things.”