What if your old shampoo bottles could not only avoid ending up in landfill but benefit a child born without a limb?

Key points: Retired hairdresser Bernie Craven came up with the idea to recycle shampoo bottles at work two years ago

Retired hairdresser Bernie Craven came up with the idea to recycle shampoo bottles at work two years ago He believes he's solving the waste problem while helping people who need prosthetic limbs who can't afford them

He believes he's solving the waste problem while helping people who need prosthetic limbs who can't afford them His prototypes are being used on two children, aged 11 and 12, and if successful Mr Craven will continue making the recycled plastic prosthetic limbs

Sorry, this audio has expired Shampoo bottles recycled to create prosthetic limbs

Twelve-year-old Haley Wright and 11-year-old Connor Wyvill will be the first children in Australia to receive 3D printed prosthetic limbs made from recycled shampoo and conditioner bottles.

Bernie Craven came up with the concept while working as a hairdresser.

"As a hairdresser for over 40 years, I knew how much waste was coming through the salons, and there is a point in time when you've got to be responsible for what you are producing," he said.

That point for Mr Craven came almost two years ago, when he started investigating new uses for waste.

"There are people around the world 3D printing with normal filament, but I don't see anyone actually using recyclables to do it," Mr Craven said.

"We're solving one problem and helping out with another one because I'm finding out there are a lot of people who need prosthetics but can't afford them."

The owner of Waste Free Systems, Bernie Craven, sets up a plastic extruder at his workshop on the Sunshine Coast. ( ABC Wide Bay: Sarah Jane Bell )

The recipients

Haley Wright was born without her left hand.

A keen rugby league player, and motorbike rider, Haley said having two hands would make a huge difference in everyday activities.

The first prototype of the recycled plastic 3D printed prosthetic hand made by Bernie Craven. ( ABC Wide Bay: Sarah Jane Bell )

"Skipping, tying up my hair, those sorts of things," she said.

Living on a farm near Kilkivan, Haley's mother, Amanda Quinn, said Haley had never been given the opportunity to have a prosthetic limb, until she heard about the project through social media.

"I thought about Haley straight away," she said.

"I'm hoping that she can deal with it emotionally, to learn to adapt to having that hand she's never had," Ms Quinn said.

Ms Quinn said it would be an important step for Haley's confidence as she moved into her teenage years.

"There's an opportunity, just to give her something she's spoken about all her life," she said.

Connor Wyvill already has ideas about what colours he would like for his prosthetic hand.

"Red and yellow, like the Broncos," he said.

The Wyvill family visit the warehouse where 11-year-old Connor's 3D printed prosthetic limb will be made. ( ABC Wide Bay: Sarah Jane Bell )

Connor was also born without his left hand.

While having only one functioning hand has been a normal part of his life, Connor said he was looking forward to starting high school with the prosthetic hand.

"It'll be a big move, going to a new school, but also going with two arms … it'll be good to be able to do stuff I can't do at the moment," he said.

His parents Amanda and David said it had been the opportunity of a lifetime, as previous prosthetics had been impractical and expensive.

"When he was about three years old we got him one to ride his trike, but he fell off his trike, it was big, it was cumbersome," Ms Wyvill said.

"This, just the weight of these things is unbelievable, it will change his life."

Ms Wyvill said other prosthetic options had been too expensive.

"Looking into bionics it can be $20,000 or more," she said.

"It was either do we save for a prosthetic arm or buy him his first car, but with 3D printing it's only going to get better," Ms Wyvill said.

Bernie Craven with Haley and Connor, who will receive the first recycled plastic prosthetic limbs made at Waste Free Systems. ( ABC Wide Bay: Sarah Jane Bell )

How it works

Mr Craven is working with 38 salons in Gympie and on the Sunshine Coast in south-east Queensland.

"We pick up the plastic bottles, and other types of plastic, bring it back to our warehouse, sort it and then we actually shred it," he said.

"We put it through the extruder and turn it into 3D filament, and then we print prosthetics with it," Mr Craven said.

The plastic extruder used to create filament from recycled plastic bottles sits next to the 3D printer. ( ABC Wide Bay: Sarah Jane Bell )

The first prototype took more than nine hours to print, and 42 metres of extruded plastic.

"At the moment we're still in the testing phase, I'm thinking it will be 15 to 20 bottles per hand," he said.

Hand kits made by e-NABLE, an international not-for-profit organisation that supports volunteers using 3D printers to make the prosthetics, have been donated to put the final prosthetics together, complete with rubber fingertips.

Mr Craven said he hoped if this trial with Haley and Connor was successful, the recycled plastic prosthetic limbs would be commercially viable.

