The purpose of this project is to address the problem of soap pumps being not recyclable. The soap pump is an assembly of parts that are made of different materials including the metal spring and the rubber seal, which cannot be recycled together and usually goes to landfill. My solution is to utilize the body of the soap bottle to provide compression to eliminate the need for moving parts and other materials in the plastic component. The body of the soap pump packaging will be made out of juice or milk carton material. This new soap pump provides the same convenience of the traditional pump while being completely recyclable.
The prototype is made out of bristol vellum and 3D printed plastic parts.
Diagram below shows how the mechanism would work. Red squares indicate plastic valves sometimes seen on the end of squirt bottles.
In action
