Tag Archives: plastic waste

This ordinary looking gadget transforms plastic bags and soft plastics into bricks

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For people who like saving things up like plastic bags and other single-use bags for future use, chances are you actually won’t be using more than half of them anytime soon. You end up having a lot of plastic bags inside other plastic bags until you finally decide to get rid of them, therefore adding up to all the plastic pollution if you don’t bring it to a recycling center. Not all places have a center nearby so they most likely end up in the trash and don’t get recycled. What if you had a machine in your house that can help you take a convenient first step in the recycling process?

Designer: Clear Drop

That’s the idea behind the Soft Plastic Compactor, a machine that is meant for houses or small buildings that turn these plastic bags and other soft plastics into bricks. These bricks can then be stored and eventually brought to recycling centers where they will be broken apart and then sorted and eventually be recycled. Turning them into bricks will make it easier to transport and turned over to those who actually know how to further recycle these materials.

The SPC looks like a trash compactor and should not take up that much space in your kitchen or wherever you sort your trash. It’s also pretty easy to use as you just need to feed in the plastic bags and other soft plastics into the machine and it will then turn them into a solid cube. What actually holds them together is a thin layer of melted plastic. The final product look like just any other bricks expect that it’s made from plastic. There’s no other use for the bricks except to bring to these recycled centers.

Clear Drop says that they will be working with recycling facilities first to help them understand how they can break open these bricks. They will not be selling the Soft Plastic Compactors without the participation of said facilities. They also assured users that there will not be any unhealthy fumes that do not meet the safety regulations. This is a handy device to have if you have a lot of plastic or you regularly have them at your home.

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Fuwa Fuwa collection re-imagines plastic bottles as organic forms

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Bottles are something that we somehow take for granted. We’re more interested in consuming what’s inside of it of course and at times, we just callously throw them away, especially the plastic ones. Over the years we’ve learned to be more conscious about our consumption as plastic is one of the worst offenders against this planet. There are still a lot of plastic bottles out there but we’re finding ways to reuse them after they’ve already been used.

Designer: Yusuké Y. Offhause

This Franco-Japanese artist has come up with a series of organic pieces using plastic bottles called “Fuwa Fuwa”. But instead of using the transparent plastic we’re used to, he actually combined it with heterogenous material that looks like oxidized iron or something that you see at archeological digs or underwater remains. The idea is to reactivate objects apart from their original purpose and to highlight the idea of imperfection.

The plastic bottles we see have a typically rigid structure so he played around with this by replacing part of the bottle with glass and ceramic. So it still retains the original shape but the removed or missing parts are highlighted with these other elements. What you get is something that looks both futuristic and archaic in one go with its crystallization using glass or transparent resin. These organic pieces can then be used as sake bottles, fragrance diffusers, or just as decorations.

Some of us still dream of having a plastic bottle-free world but that’s still far from happening even as we’ve made some progress. So the next best thing would be to recycle these as they will not reach end of life anytime soon and projects like this can be a good alternative to just throwing them away.

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Base Plastic Project delivers public benches and planters made out of recycled plastic bottle caps

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Base Plastic Public Furniture SeatGoing green is more than just a trend. We must embrace it as a lifestyle if we want to leave a better planet for our children. There are many ways to become environment-friendly, but our favorite is when the trash is transformed into something more useful.

Base Plastic is a project that aims to create public furniture using recycled plastic waste. We have seen similar projects already, and we believe more ideas will be introduced. Base Plastic is an effort by industrial designer Binsar Priandika that offers a product that may be developed and used to make public furniture using vast amounts of plastic waste.

Designer: Binsar Priandika

Base Plastic Public Furniture Photos

The public furniture design is 2-in-1 as it functions as both a planter and a bench. There are three modules available that you can arrange depending on the needs of a community. Each set is made out of 17,000 plastic bottled-water caps, weighing 17kg.

Those plastic bottled-water caps are put to good use in this project. Base Plastic has the potential to become a success because it reduces plastic waste as thousands of bottle caps are used. The results are hexagonal basic shape modules for multi-configuration. These public seats and planters can be very useful as they provide comfort for the people and beautify a place. The modular system allows more pieces to be added and configured in different shapes.

Base Plastic Public Furniture Idea

The Base Plastic System is sturdy and customizable. The colors used here are white, black, and blue, but we’re guessing the pieces can be painted in different colors. The main element is the planter which transforms into a bench with a cover.

The blue base weighs 7.7kgs, while the white middle part is 4.3kgs. The cover weighs about 5 kgs of high-density polyethylene (HDPE). A set of modular planters and benches will look nice, especially in public spaces like parks and playgrounds.

Base Plastic Public Furniture Concept

Base Plastic Public Furniture Design

Plastic pollution is a reality we are facing right now. It can’t be totally eradicated but can be reduced, thanks to several efforts of people and groups that care for the environment. Benches and planters are useful in every community and country and the use of plastic waste will be very beneficial to creating a better planet.

Base Plastic Public Furniture Project Sample

Base Plastic Public Furniture Sample

There is the question of how many bottle caps will be used. It was noted that 17,000 caps are needed to produce 17kgs which translates to one set. One set consists of the base, middle, and cover. We can just imagine hundreds of thousands of water-bottle caps are needed to decorate a whole park.

Base Plastic Public Furniture Image

Base Plastic Public Furniture

Base Plastic Public Furniture Project

Base Plastic Public Furniture Parts

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3D technologies transformed plastic waste into city benches to beautify concrete barriers

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USE is an experimental furniture piece built from plastic waste for the small town of Lucca to operate as a second skin for New Jersey concrete barriers as well as a city bench.

R3direct uses innovative 3D technologies to produce a collection of different items, like furniture and public infrastructure, from waste. Currently, 55% of the plastic coming from urban waste is destined for thermo-valorization or dumped in landfills. R3direct gathers plastic waste from that portion of the main supply to use for their 3D-printed products.

Designer: R3direct & Giulia del Grande

Using large-format 3D printers, R3direct is dedicated to high commercial value applications like sculptures, functional prototypes, and public or private furniture objects. Their latest experimental furniture piece is dubbed USE, which stands for ‘Urban Safety Every day.’ USE primarily functions as a ‘second skin’ for New Jersey barriers and takes the shape of a city bench for residents and tourists to enjoy.

Made from post-consumer plastics, R3direct remains committed to printing durable and bespoke objects for private and public purposes. Using innovative 3D and parametric technologies, “The recycled plastic necessary for the realization of USE,” the R3direct team explains, “comes entirely from the recycling of polylaminate beverage cartons carried out by the company Lucart, [a] world leader in the production of paper and tissue.”

Dotting the streets of the small city of Lucca, while Lucart carried out the recycling and processing of the plastic, R3direct collected the plastic waste from the re-use of about 3,300 TetraPak® cartons. The final compositional makeup of USE is 75% of FiberPack®, a material obtained from recycled cellulose fibers used in beverage cartons, and the remaining 25% is made of polyethylene and aluminum, two components used as raw, secondary materials to produce the module.

Working closely with Giulia del Grande, the USE project originates from the designer’s thesis, which explores, “the issue linked to the design of spaces to prevent the sense of fear in people who live in cities.” Calming the chaos and busy nature of cities, public furniture like benches and water fountains are incorporated into the fabric of the city to function as aesthetically pleasing home bases for urban residents and tourists.

Speaking to this, the team at R3direct notes, “Urban furniture intends to transform the concrete barriers commonly used during events or in a fixed manner to protect strategic places in the city, making them aesthetically pleasing and equipping them with various functions useful to the citizen.”

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These 3D-printed hand boards are created from plastic waste for riding the waves

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Wabo is a collection of hand boards that are created from plastic waste produced from 3D-printed prototyping.

Eight million pieces of plastic make their way into the ocean on a daily basis. That’s a lot of plastic. While some brands commit themselves to gimmicky sustainable practices that have more to do with marketing than carbon-neutral manufacturing, other brands learn how to make something out of the plastic waste they produce.

Designer: Uido Design Studio

The multidisciplinary design studio Uido Design is a studio known for its catalog of 3D printable product designs and its team is doing something about the waste they produce during the design process. Shredding the plastic waste produced from 3D printing into bits and pieces, Uido Design uses the waste to create hand boards for users to ride the ocean waves.

Each time Uido Design develops a new product design, tons of boxes are filled with plastic waste from 3D-printed prototypes. “Our commitment to the planet is serious,” Uido Design suggests, “and our only waste as a company is those prototypes, so we started thinking about what we can do with them and how we can transform them into a new and fun product.”

Designed by Lautaro Lucero, the hand boards are handcrafted by both him and Tadeo Lucero. After the plastic waste has been shredded up into bits and pieces, the duo forms 6mm plates, which are then cut and transformed into hand boards for paddling in the ocean waves. While the hand boards are by no means a necessary product, they represent a fun way of making something out of the waste that can and will be put to use.

Uido Design Studio shreds the plastic waste into bits and pieces before forming them into 6mm plates.

A fitted strap is then attached to the curved plates for secure hand placement. 

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Bristol Plastic Factory recycles plastic bottle tops into beautiful things

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Bristol Plastic Factory Studio

Eva Gilder-Hodgson knew how to make the most of the lockdown. Amid the pandemic in January 2021, she started Bristol Plastic Factory in her neighborhood. She has been into design and owns a studio that focuses on interior architecture, furniture pieces, and graphic design and is now venturing into more sustainable design.

Eva is committed to creating and finding joy in making and delivering a beneficial impact. She founded Bristol Plastic Factory, intending to explore opportunities on recycled plastic. The possibilities are endless, but there is a need for research, development, and implementation.

Designer: Eva Gilder-Hodgson

Bristol Plastic Factory Melting Pot Table

The Bristol Plastic Factory aims to transform waste plastic into products with endless lifecycles. Its mission is to bring together design and technology to “make beautiful things out of recycled waste.” The workshop became a place for the designers to build new things from sheet material made of recycled and recyclable plastic waste. Some furniture pieces have been made starting from prototypes and the studio soon received funding. The community where the studio is based also saw people helping by giving their plastic bottle lids.

Bristol Plastic Factory Table

The waste product material is then transformed into different recycled products from plastic bottle tops. The Bristol Plastic Factory partnered with The Factory in Knowle West and asked for help recycling Bristol’s plastic waste, specifically, the plastic lids. The process set by the studio seems simple but requires hard work. First, plastic is collected, which can be achieved if more people give. The more people collect plastic, the more sheet material can be set for use to design furniture pieces.

Bristol Plastic Factory Plastic Waste Bottle Lids

Bristol Plastic Factory Plastic Bottle Lids

The next step is to recycle, which starts by shredding and then heat-pressed by a manufacturing partner. To make the recycling process easier, the bottle lids should be of the same type of HDPE plastic. This makes the material melt and be molded easily. The sheet material is then CNC milled and then used to make different recycled products.

Bristol Plastic Factory Plastic Waste Material Collection

The first collection has yet to launch this summer, and we can expect it to show us what sustainable design is all about. So far, the Bristol Plastic Factory has come up with tables. We can imagine more furniture items can be made like chairs, shelves, or even small cabinets.

Bristol Plastic Factory Eva Gilder Hodgson

Designer Eva Gilder-Hodgson had several inspirations. The first one was Precious Plastic—a global non-profit project that educates designers on how to take advantage of recycled plastic. The group also offers machinery blueprints and open-source resources to interested designers.

Bristol Plastic Factory Project

Precious Plastic now has a community of people finding ways to solve the plastic waste problem. The goal is to discover innovative solutions using different methods like “injection molding, heat-pressing and extracting.” For example, the group has recently introduced an open-source brick design that can be used for temporary structures. The bricks are made from 100% injection-molded plastic and may be used for public buildings, low-cost housing, or shelters.

Precious Plastic has also inspired other companies like Gomi Designs. The latter already made portable chargers handmade from waste plastic and reclaimed batteries. The products are sustainable yet come with top-notch quality. Eva’s studio is now exploring the same as Precious Plastic and Gomi Designs to make recycled products for a more sustainable future. The potential of waste plastic is huge, and the Bristol Plastic Factory can definitely help contribute to environmental awareness.

Bristol Plastic Factory Melting Pot Table

Bristol Plastic Factory Plastic Waste Bottle Lids

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This sustainable folding stool turns wasteful PET bottles into a tool for an agile lifestyle

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Now you can sit comfortably anywhere you go and won’t look out of place while carrying your own stool around. Plus, it helps find a home for one of the biggest sources of pollution on the planet.

Have you ever found yourself needing to sit down only to discover there’s not an empty chair in sight? Whether at parties or meetings, there always comes a time when an extra chair or even just a stool can be a lifesaver. Those scenarios are what gave birth to a class of portable and folding stools, but one new entry in this category tries to keep you looking cool while you carry your stool around. In fact, no one might even suspect you’re bringing along your own seat.

Designer: KRETHO

Folding stools are nothing new, but few actually try to hide the fact that people are carrying something meant to be sat on. In contrast, the TAKEoSEAT flattens down to something that looks like a large portfolio, or at least a stylish bag made of felt. You won’t look odd carrying it around, nor would the seat look out of place in an office space. Designer KRETHO positions this portable stool as a perfect part of an agile arsenal, allowing people to just pick up their seats and move around as needed. No more rearranging furniture or sweating over a heavy chair.

This folding design is admittedly not exactly novel, but what TAKEoSEAT adds to the table is a bit of environmental focus. Each stool is made from PET felt, which is felt that comes from those plastic bottles that we use and throw away without giving a second thought about where they end up. PET bottles undergo a special process (that does, unfortunately, use up water and energy) that results in a material that feels familiar to the touch while also strong enough to support a load of 130 kg. Plus, the TAKEoSEAT itself is recyclable, too!

Of course, it would be better if we reduced the amount of PET bottles we produce and use instead, but this at least finds another way to recycle these harmful products. The beneficial effects on the environment will still largely depend on how many TAKEoSEATs are made and sold, not to mention how efficient the recycling process is as well. If you are in the market for a sustainable and portable seat that you can take anywhere, this might be one option you could consider.

Photos courtesy of Sedus

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This 3D printed portable toilet is made from recycled plastic!

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This sustainable toilet is designed to compost solid waste while also tackling the sanitation crisis – using design and technology to do good sh*t! It is a solution that eradicates plastic waste and turns it into a construction material that reduces the load on landfills. The portable toilet is also absolutely beautiful with its white aesthetic and cocoon form! The first 3D printed prototype was produced by an advanced seven-axis robotic printer and is being tested on a construction site in the Swiss Alps.

Created by Spanish design studio Nagami and To: it has been dubbed The Throne and it comprises three parts – a teardrop-shaped body, a dramatic, double-curved sliding door, and a bucket for solid waste. All the parts were printed within three days, including the base and some smaller accessories that were either injection-molded or ordered. It also includes an off-the-shelf separation toilet seat to separate urine from solids for composting.

For the prototype, the teams used discarded plastic medical equipment from European hospitals. “Our treatment of waste, both human and artificial, has a profound impact on the future of humanity and our planet. Since the 1950s roughly 8.3 billion metric tonnes of plastic has been produced, and only around 9% of this has been recycled; the remainder have been incinerated, piled into landfills, or dumped in our oceans,” said Nachson Mimran, CEO and co-founder of To: Creative Activists.

“The 3D printed Throne has been an incredible challenge for us, working with mechanics, sliding doors, and off-the-shelf products such as a separate toilet. These design components forced us to think in a different, utilitarian way which really makes this proof of concept special,” said Manuel Jiménez García, CEO and co-founder of Nagami.

The Throne goes further in its realization of a circular economy by composting the waste produced by users and using this compost locally. Eventually, the teams want to put the technologies and tools in the hands of local communities. When innovation is shared fairly and the carbon footprint created by logistics and shipping of these products can be greatly reduced. The Throne is just one example of the possibilities of what additive manufacturing can do for scaling sustainable design and development – it’s only waste if you waste it!

Designer: Nagami and To:

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This refillable toothpaste container was designed to cut down the waste produced by conventional toothpaste tubes!

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Mimo is a revolutionary refillable toothpaste tube that pumps toothpaste into each tube from the bottom with the help of an external refilling basin.

We don’t realize how much waste toothpaste tubes actually create. We brush our teeth twice a day, fingers-crossed, and go through multiple tubes of toothpaste in a matter of a couple of weeks. Young product designers Pelin Özbalcı and Sergen Çağlayan say that over one-billion tubes of toothpaste end up in landfills each year in the United States. Creating a solution for the waste created by disused toothpaste tubes, Özbalcı and Çağlayan developed Mimo, a refillable toothpaste tube.

Traditional toothpaste tubes we buy at the grocery store are typically constructed with a thin layer of aluminum and various types of plastic that make it nearly impossible for toothpaste tubes to degrade and recycle. Designed for those who’d like to live an eco-conscious, sustainable lifestyle, Mimo is a warm refillable toothpaste tube concept that would brighten up any bathroom. Inspired by the pastel color palette of Pantone shades, Mimo’s toothpaste containers have been conceptualized in an array of muted color schemes, each keeping an opaque, speckled top layer as well.

Equipped with a refilling basin, Mimo fills each tube up from the bottom through a pressure pump that’s encased in each basin. The transparent bottom half of Mimo indicates the toothpaste level so over-filling won’t be an issue. Designed in a similar fashion to refillable water bottles, Mimo comes as a cylinder container with a wrist strap that allows for easy portability and carrying. The toothpaste pump works in just the same way as a hand soap pump, squeezing out toothpaste for users as needed.

Designers: Pelin Özbalcı and Sergen Çağlayan

With a similar build to refillable water bottles, Mimo looks familiar to the average consumer.

The pastel color scheme of Mimo fits into any modern bathroom. 

Friendly packaging makes Mimo that much more appealing to regular consumers.

The hand pump is similar in design to hand soap containers.

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This donut-shaped EDC is designed to cut through plastics to help streamline the recycling process!

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The Donut Cutter is an EDC water bottle slicing tool designed to cut through hard plastics and streamline the recycling process.

PET is the most common thermoplastic polymer resin in production today. Used in fibers for clothing, thermoforming for manufacturing, and most often in containers for foods and liquids like water bottles, PET is used to produce most of the plastic-based products in circulation today. Since PET plastics aren’t biodegradable, they end up in landfills following their use where they’ll remain for 500 to 1,000 years until they fully degrade.

With plastic water bottles being some of the biggest contributors to PET plastic waste in landfills, industrial design studio BKID Co. constructed an EDC Donut Cutter that carves right through the bottle cap, neck ring, and plastic label to streamline the recycling process and prevent hard plastics from harming wild and aquatic life.

We’ve all seen the tragic photographs of turtles stuck in plastic yokes and birds choking on bottle caps. While PET plastics are certainly the most common form of thermoplastic polymer resin today, they’re also the most damaging to the planet.

BKID’s Donut Cutter slices right through every and any plastic water bottle partly in response to the life-threatening effects that in-tact plastic waste has on wildlife. Made from high-density polyethylene (HDPE), bottle caps and neck rings have a tougher, more durable feel compared to the actual water bottle, but the Donut Cuter carves right through those as well.

Compact enough to fit inside your pants pocket, the Donut Cutter is similar in size to other EDC items like pocket knives and multipurpose tools. Designed with a circular shape, the Donut Cutter is named after its main finger loop that makes handling the EDC plastic cutter intuitive and safe.

Designer: BKID Co.