hdpe by ian morgan tyrrell from uk

The intention of my design was to create a prototype of a shelter/cart that could be manufactured anywhere by almost anyone using free recycled materials therefore creating work where its needed, eliminating transport and reducing waste.

The most appropriate free material I could find was old wheelie bins that you can get hold of almost anywhere. The bins already have all the components you need for a cart: an axle, wheels and a hinged lid. By joining two together I could create a large covered load area that’s instantly convertible to a shelter with a comfortable sitting position inside, a view and a roof. The only tools I needed were a jigsaw and a hot air gun with a welding nozzle. The HDPE plastic is easy to cut and fairly easy to weld together. The only extra components are gas struts from the boot of a scraped car (also in abundance). The result is a tough, waterproof, adaptable cart that’s big enough to fit most bounty and surprisingly comfortable to sit or sleep in.

If it ever became commercially viable to produce the carts in larger quantities you could still reuse all the components from recycled bins but melt down and re-mould the body and lid.