Post waste

C0 — New ways of living

We are facing urgent choices about how to live and consume. There is no single answer. Diverse approaches and multiple solutions, at global, national and local levels, are needed to tackle the waste crisis. Designers are seeking cross-disciplinary collaborations with biologists, chemists and engineers to design systems, materials and ways of living for a waste-free future.

Public opinion is behind immediate action. Designing new systems will encourage the sharing of our resources to reduce consumption. Designers are thinking ahead about the end of a product’s life by making decisions at the design stage, where up to 80% of a product’s environmental impact is determined, to ensure a product is more durable, repairable and recyclable.

Designers are innovating with plant-based materials to replace oil-based plastic packaging. Gathered from the sea, grown in a lab or extracted from food waste, these new materials biodegrade back into the soil. They also provide new income streams for local communities, encouraging them to maintain biodiversity. The disruption and changes made across the world in response to COVID-19 show that rethinking our systems and behaviour is not impossible. Changes can be made to entrenched systems – it is not too late to act.

C1 — Making things last

To end our throwaway society, designers are creating things we want to invest in, value and maintain. As most energy is used in making things, it makes sense to ensure these things have a long life, that they are designed to be easily repaired with replaceable parts, and are designed for simple disassembly and recycling after use. While the efficient use of materials has always been at the core of good design, many designers did not consider what happened to their products after use. The design stage is where action can drive change. By accepting responsibility for end-of-life, designers can continue to make an impact on the environment. But this requires consumers to demand action and manufacturers to adopt new processes.

057 — Framework Laptop – a computer design for disassembly

The Framework Laptop is a lightweight, high-performance computer with a modular system that is upgradable, adaptable and repairable. The recommendation is for most laptops to be replaced every three to five years, but the Framework Laptop is designed to last ten. It can easily be upgraded with more storage or a new screen, and has a community marketplace for reselling parts.

• Materials: 50% post-consumer recycled aluminium, 30% post-consumer recycled ABS and PC/ABS plastic, silicon, fibreglass, water-based paint, glass, Mylar (Biaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate), lithium-ion
• Design: Po Yu Chen, Framework, 2021
• Manufacture: Framework

To see Framework repair tutorials, visit guides.frame.work/

058 — Blume Light Bulb – a lighting service and bulb designed for disassembly

Currently, very few people recycle LED (light-emitting diode) lightbulbs, although they contain a variety of critical raw materials. One idea for designing out resource loss is to establish a service to rent new then return spent lightbulbs for recovery. This approach, presented in this concept design for the Blume Light Bulb, would give companies the financial incentive to design and manufacture bulbs for disassembly.

• Materials: Aluminium, nickel, copper, nickel-plated brass, stainless steel, polycarbonate, ABS plastic, FR-4 epoxy, polyvinyl chloride, phosphorus, gallium nitride, cerium, yttrium, indium
• Design: The Agency of Design x Cool Curve, 2017

Film

“Initial concept for Blume lightbulb”

Film-maker: The Agency of Design
Duration: 2:50

059 — Soluboard – an electronic circuit board designed for disassembly

Printed circuit boards (PCBs) contain valuable and critical metals such as copper, gold and silver fixed into fibreglass with epoxy resin. A new kind of PCB, the Soluboard is designed to dissolve so that these metals can be recovered. Made of water-soluble, non-toxic, natural fibres, it could reduce by 60% the carbon footprint of the 18 billion square metres of PCB manufactured each year globally.

• Natural fibre panels with drilled holes
• A working prototype
• Samples for new detachable connections
• Materials: Natural fibres, water-soluble polymer, flame retardant, circuitry and components
• Design: Jiva Materials Ltd, 2019
• Manufacture: Jiva Materials Ltd

Film

“The soluboard demonstrator concept design”

• Film-maker:  Jiva Materials Ltd, 2019
• Duration: 2:02

060 — Sling Lounge Chair – furniture designed for disassembly

The pared-down design of this sustainably sourced and produced oak-and-linen chair exemplifies the careful use of resources. Constructed for disassembly, its minimal components can be easily replaced if worn or broken. The Sling Lounge Chair’s environmental footprint has been further reduced by designing it to be flat-packed and easy to transport.

• Materials: FSC oiled oak with linen flax plant-fibre fabric
• Design: Industrial Facility – Sam Hecht and Kim Colin, 2021
• Manufacture: TAKT, Denmark

Film

“Sling Lounge Chair assembly”

• Duration: 00:40
• Courtesy of TAKT

061 — Full-size, CNC-machined, expanded cork brick used to construct the house

Cork forestry is an integral part of a well-recognised, biodiverse ecosystem – cork is harvested by hand every nine years without harming the tree. Expandable cork is made from the off-cuts and by-products of cork forestry and other cork industries.

Film

“Robotic milling research and development”

• Film-maker: Oliver Wilton and Mike Arnett at B-made
• Duration: 0:30

062 — Cork House – architecture for disassembly

The Cork House is constructed from interlocking blocks of cork and timber, without the need for mortar or glue. The team behind it has developed a 100% sustainable product from waste cork, using heat, pressure and the cork’s juices to create blocks. Designed for easy disassembly, the bricks can be recovered, reused or harmlessly returned to the environment at the end of their lives.

• Design: Matthew Barnett Howland with Dido Milne (CSK Architects) and Oliver Wilton (UCL), 2016
• House materials: Amorim ‘MD Façade’ expanded cork, structural Accoya and spruce CLT (cross laminated timber), western red cedar, oak, recycled CLT furniture, copper, brass, steel screw-pile foundations

Cork cabin prototype: 1:5 constructional model

• Materials/source: Composite cork, walnut
• Designers: Matthew Barnett Howland and Oliver Wilton, 2016
• Maker: Matthew Barnett Howland

Films

“Drone footage of the Cork House”

• Film-maker: Phil Broom, Webevision
• Duration: 1:40

C2 — Growing a no-waste future

Designers are the new alchemists, looking not for gold but for degradable materials. By establishing makeshift labs, new start-ups or collaborations with scientists, they experiment and develop bio-materials from agricultural waste or generate renewable growable materials rather than extracting ancient ones. Many projects increase community employment by using local waste or by-products, and promoting innovative manufacturing techniques.
New materials developed from fungi or algae offer some of the insulating, lightweight, waterproof and transparent properties of plastics, while being non-toxic and designed to degrade. They also create intriguing ‘natural’ looks that make us re-examine our concept of what we consider to be ‘modern’. This is just the beginning of a shift towards making materials that will help to reduce or eradicate the environmental impact of single-use packaging waste.

063 — Algo paint – from sea to brush

Here, seaweed replaces the petrochemical products used in conventional paints. The use of seaweed has a number of advantages: as well as absorbing a large quantity of carbon dioxide as it grows, seaweed does not encroach on agricultural land or require chemical fertilisers. As a result, 1.5 kg of CO₂ is saved for every litre of paint produced. Since 2017, Algo has prevented more than 300 tonnes of CO₂ emissions from entering the atmosphere, the equivalent of driving a Twingo 4 million kilometres! To produce the paint, the seaweed is dried and ground to a powder in a processing plant located just a few hundred metres from where it is collected. This is then transported to a site near Rennes and incorporated into the paint formula.

With the help of the Centre d’Etude et de Valorisation des Algues de Pleubian (Brittany), a sustainable cultivation of the algae has been developed to take advantage of this renewable natural raw material without impacting the ecosystem.

The process of putting the paint in jars, tinting and preparing the orders is carried out by around twenty people working in two Etablissements et services d’aide par le travail (Esat).

• Sample 1: Washed, dried and micronised seaweed
• Sample 2: 98% biobased resin
• Sample 3: Dried seaweed

Photos

Seaweed is collected in the Bay of St Brieuc.

• Photo Seaweed harvest
• © CEVA
• Photos Algo manufactory
• © Mr Bricolage

Mireille, David and Harrison at the Esat in Cesson-Sévigné, under Corinne’s supervision.

• Photo of the Esat
• © Interne Algo

064 — Bioplastics from local resources – Scaling natural materials for industrial processes

The biodesign research lab, Atelier LUMA, based in Arles in the South of France, is a multi-disciplinary team that develops local solutions for ecological, economic and social change. Its pioneering research into making bioplastics from local materials recognises that for natural materials to replace fossil-fuel-based plastics on a large and impactful scale, they need to be mass-producible. Atelier LUMA is working with designers, scientists and engineers to develop composite bioplastic mixtures from many types of materials that can be used in industrial machines and processes.

Photos

“Algae harvest”
© Courtesy of Atelier LUMA

065 — Bioplastics from local resources – Scaling natural materials for industrial processes

The biodesign research lab, Atelier LUMA, based in Arles in the South of France, is a multi-disciplinary team that develops local solutions for ecological, economic and social change. Its pioneering research into making bioplastics from local materials recognises that for natural materials to replace fossil-fuel-based plastics on a large and impactful scale, they need to be mass-producible. Atelier LUMA is working with designers, scientists and engineers to develop composite bioplastic mixtures from many types of materials that can be used in industrial machines and processes.

Algae Tiles panel

By injection-moulding algae bioplastics, single components can be reproduced exactly.

• Materials/source: PLA (bioplastic), algae sourced from the Camargue
• Design: Atelier LUMA, inspired by an initial design by Studio Klarenbeek & Dros
• Manufacture: Vegeplast (Tarbes, France)

066 — Bioplastics from local resources – Scaling natural materials for industrial processes

The biodesign research lab, Atelier LUMA, based in Arles in the South of France, is a multi-disciplinary team that develops local solutions for ecological, economic and social change. Its pioneering research into making bioplastics from local materials recognises that for natural materials to replace fossil-fuel-based plastics on a large and impactful scale, they need to be mass-producible. Atelier LUMA is working with designers, scientists and engineers to develop composite bioplastic mixtures from many types of materials that can be used in industrial machines and processes.

Algae vessels

These 3D printed vessels show how new manufacturing techniques can provide innovative applications for this living material.

• Materials/source: PLA (bioplastic), algae sourced from the Camargue
• Design: Studio Klarenbeek & Dros i.c.w. Atelier LUMA
• Manufacture: Atelier LUMA

067 — Citrus peel – a scalable polymer from waste

The development of future polymers made from waste like fruit peel, carbon dioxide and sugars aims to provide both function and end-of-life sustainability. They have lower carbon footprints than current materials. Designing the polymer structure at the atomic scale enables control of large-scale properties like elasticity, stiffness and strength. Sustainability, manufacturability and performance are considered throughout the product’s life cycle: from raw materials and product design to recyclability.

• Materials: Fruit peel, carbon dioxide, sugars
• Design: Oxford University, Department of Chemistry

Film

“Interview with Charlotte Williams, Oxford University”

• Film-maker: Alice Masters
• Duration: 3:43

068 — Miroir Héol – recovering shellfish waste

Malàkio® is a young Breton company that collects shellfish waste from human consumption and crushes it. In 2020, the company developed Istrenn, a material made from 60% recycled shellfish and 40% minerals. Istenn’s appearance changes depending on the type of shellfish used to manufacture it. This new material, rich in calcium, uses a low-tech, non-firing process. It can be used for kitchen and bathroom items like this Héol mirror made from mussel shells.

Small samples

• #01 Istrenn of mixed shellfish, intermediate granulometry
• #02 Istrenn of scallops, intermediate granulometry
• #03 Istrenn of mussels, intermediate granulometry
• #04 Istrenn of oysters, intermediate granulometry
• #05 Istrenn of abalone shell, intermediate granulometry
• #06 Istrenn of mussels  with black pigment, intermediate granulometry
• #07 Istrenn of oysters with black pigment, intermediate granulometry
• #08 Istrenn of scallops, rough texture
• #09 Istrenn of mussels, thin granulometry
• #010 Istrenn of scallops, large granulometry
• #011 Istrenn of oysters with red pigment, intermediate granulometry
• #012 Istrenn of oysters with indigo pigment, intermediate granulometry

Large samples

• #01 Istrenn of scallops, intermediate granulometry
• #02 Istrenn of mussels, intermediate granulometry

• Source: Breton producers and restaurateurs
• Design and manufacture: Hugo Kermarrec and Morgan Guyader, Malàkio, 2020

Film

“Malàkio Odyssey”

• Film-maker: Marceau Uguen
• Duration: 1:50

069 — From agriculture waste to production – Atelier LUMA’s research on sunflowers and rice straw

Atelier LUMA identify agricultural waste streams in the Carmargue bioregion. Working with a network of local farmers and craftspeople, they propose alternative uses for these materials including insulation and wall-cladding panels. The panels here are made from sunflower stems, left over from sunflower oil production and rice straw which is usually cut and burnt after rice cultivation. Atelier LUMA’s ambitions to upscale production come with challenges including limited, seasonal material supply and storage.

“Sunflower walls insulation panels”

• Materials/source: Sunflower agricultural waste from the Camargue, mineral and vegetal binders
• Design: Atelier LUMA, 2021
• Manufacture: Atelier LUMA, 2021

Photos

“Sunflower harvest in the Camargue”

Photo: Victor&Simon

“Rice straw acoustic panels (short fibres)”

• Materials: Rice straw, a by-product of the rice cultivation industry from the Camargue, France, mineral and vegetal binders
• Design: Atelier LUMA, 2022
• Manufacture: Atelier LUMA, 2022

Photos

1. “Addition of mineral and vegetal binders to the rice straw fibres”
2. “Loading of the rice straw fibres mixed with the binders into the moulds”

Photo: Adrian Deweerdt

070 — MS Ulva 86 bag – neither leather nor plastic, but seaweed

After several years of research alongside scientists, Samuel Tomatis has developed different types of flexible materials from seaweed. The materials’ range of thicknesses, colours, granulometry and scalability, allow for the design of a large variety of objects  from furniture to luxury leather goods, like this MS Ulva 86 bag. The colours, opalescences, surface finishes and textures of seaweed offers an infinite range of aesthetic possibilities and surface finishes that can be opal-like or textured, or come in a range of tones . Offcuts from manufacturing can be conserved, either to be melted down again to create materials, or to be returned to nature, where they serve as fertiliser and food for insects.

• Materials: green seaweed
• Origin: Brittany
• Award: Liliane Bettencourt Prize for the intelligence of the hand, Dialogues 2022
• Production: Bourse Agora
• Collaboration: INRAE, Anaïs Jarnoux
• Photo: © Marin Avram

Film

• “MS86 Bag
• Director: Isabelle Dupuy Chavanat, 2021
• Production: Fondation Bettencourt Schueller
• Duration: 5:29

MR100 bowl – 100% biodegradable disposables

This bowl is made entirely from seaweed. Its finish, surface quality and colour depend on the species of algae used. Injection moulded, this object is designed to be produced on a large scale and eventually replaced disposable plastic tableware. Like all Samuel Tomatis’s projects, this bowl is part of a radical ecological approach in which everything is reusable, entirely biodegradable, and ultimately returns to the earth.

• Materials: green, red and brown seaweed
• Source: Brittany, Guadeloupe
• Dimensions: 9 x 5 cm. Weight: 80 g
• Production: Bourse Agora
• Collaboration: INRAE
• Photo credits: © Marin Avram

071 — Kelp leather jacket and trousers – an oil-free outfit

This biodegradable jacket and trousers are made using a specialised natural tanning process that improves seaweed’s natural flexibility, durability and resistance, transforming it into a material similar to leather. The patchwork garments are wearable for a season or two and then degrade with time. The outfit is also a statement about the speed at which we consume and throw away clothing and the materials we value and use. Originally designed as part of Tanguy Méliand’s graduation collection, the designer is now working with scientists to develop more techniques for using seaweed in fashion and with seaweed farmers to learn how to harvest kelp in a manner that encourages regrowth at a sustainable level.

“Ensemble d’inspiration workwear, look 3 collection de diplôme “10/03/14″”

• Materials/Source: Kelp (Laminaria digitata) from the coastline of Brittany at “Plage de Sainte-Marguerite” in Landéda, France, cotton threads, ceramic buttons, silk organza
• Design: Tanguy Mélinand, 2023

Film

“Seaweed seams”, 2023

• Film-maker: Tanguy Mélinand
• Duration: 00:17

072 — Notpla – packaging made from seaweed

Notpla (short for ‘not plastic’) is a biodegradable seaweed-based material that aims to replace single-use plastic packaging. Notpla products include Ooho, an edible bubble for liquids and condiments, and a coating for takeaway boxes. Some species of seaweed can grow two metres in twenty-four hours, making them sustainable and abundant. To date, Notpla has replaced more than 3 million single-use plastic items. Recent winners of the Earthshot prize, the company is scaling their production and product range.

1. Notpla Film packet
2. Notpla Film sachets
3. Notpla Takeaway containers
4. Notpla olive oil pipettes
5. Notpla Rigid tray
6. Ooho facsimiles filled with different liquids and condiments
7. Notpla Seaweed Paper
8. Dried and ground seaweed samples

• Materials: Brown seaweed (Laminaria digitata, Laminaria hyperborea), red seaweed (Gelidium), other plant-based material
• Design: Notpla, 2014–ongoing
• Manufacture: Notpla

Photos

Oohos filled with lucozade at the 2019 London marathon
Notpla working with new seaweed farm Câr-Y-Mor, Wales

Films

“Decomposition”

• Film-maker: Notpla
• Duration: 0:57

“London marathon swaps plastics bottles for edible Ooho drinks capsules”

• Film-maker: Notpla
• Duration: 0:58

073 — Bio-based shelves

These shelves combine 3D printed brackets made from algae-based bioplastic with different boards that are sourced from invasive plant species in the Camargue region or are recycled bioplastics.

• Materials:
• Brackets: PLA, algae sourced from the Camargue
• Shelf 1: Baccharis particle board made from an invasive plant from Camargue
• Shelf 2: Ailanthus plywood made from an invasive plant from Camargue
• Shelf 3: Recycled bioplastic board made from Atelier LUMA leftovers

074 — Zero takeaway – a return packaging scheme for takeaway food

Our recycling systems and materials need rethinking to avoid single-use waste. This research project redesigns delivery packaging for takeaway meals. Inspired by Japanese bento boxes and Indian tiffin tins that hold multiple dishes in a stacked container, this new packaging uses sustainable materials that can be washed and reused, and is transferable between restaurants. Customers are reimbursed when the packaging is returned, with additional incentives (such as discounts on future orders) being offered to embed good habits.

• Materials/source: COCOA (50% waste cocoa bean shells from industrial chocolate production and biodegradable binders), mycelium and waste wood chips, Piñatex (a leather alternative made from pineapple leaves), Lexcell foam (natural rubber materials from FSC certified forests), NUATAN (a plastic-like biomaterial made from corn starch, sugar and reclaimed cooking oil and dyed with natural pigment), algae cling film. The model for the exhibition is 3D printed using PLA
• Design: PriestmanGoode, 2020

075 — Get onboard – a sustainable meal tray

Every passenger on a long-haul flight generates more than one kilogram of waste, most of which is incinerated. Design studio PriestmanGoode has developed a prototype for an alternative onboard meal tray. The design replaces single-use materials with a combination of edible, reusable and biodegradable materials, including coffee beans and rice husks.

• Materials: Coffee beans, coffee husks, wheat bran, coconut wood, rice husks, flour, bagasse fibre, algae, banana leaf.
• Replica model for exhibition made from resins with bio content
• Design: PriestmanGoode, 2019
• Manufacture: In development stage

076 — Rotomoulded object

This object is rotation-moulded, a process usually used to create large, hollow plastic objects including kayaks and water tanks. They are currently made from a mixture of natural ingredients and a small amount of recycled plastic, but Atelier LUMA aims to develop a 100% bioplastic recipe. This experimental shape was designed for its minimal material use and versatility of use.

• Materials: partially biosourced plastic and/or micro-algae and/or olive stones and/or rice husk and/or recycled PLA (bioplastic) and/or natural dyes extracted from tinctorial plants
• Design: Atelier LUMA, 2023
• Manufacture: Roto30, Beaucaire, France

Photo

“Rotomoulding diagram”
With thanks to Atelier LUMA

077 — Sisal table – made from agave leaves

Hair-like sisal is used to playful effect in this table. The raw fibres are from the leaves of the agave plant, an agricultural waste left over from tequila distilleries. Sisal was formerly produced to make rugs, ropes and fishing nets, but its use has diminished since the invention of plastic. London-based Mexican designer Fernando Laposse’s designs support local employment and the development of new agave plantations that help to retain rainfall on over-farmed, barren landscapes.

• Materials: Agave sisal, steel (frame), glass
• Design: Fernando Laposse, 2019
• Courtesy Fernando Laposse and Sarah Myerscough Gallery, London

Film

“Regeneration with agave”

• Photography: Pepe Molina
• Drone footage: Juan Padilla
• 3D animation: Pablo Cervantes
• Courtesy of Fernando Laposse
• Duration: 5:34

078 — Photo

1. “Sugar beet piles at a sugar factory in Opalenica, Western Poland”
   Courtesy of Sonia Jaśkiewicz
2. “Coconut-processing unit, drying the white flesh of the coconut to be pressed to extract coconut oil”
   Courtesy of Zuzana Gombošová

079 — Sony’s Triporous^TM – a sustainable material from rice husks

Rice is one of most widely consumed staple foods, but the discarded husk is a problem for farmers. Using waste rice husks, Sony have developed a new porous carbon material, Triporous^TM, that can absorb microscopic pollutants and thus improve the safety and quality of water and air. Its wide application includes clothing and toiletries making use of its highly absorbent and deodorising properties.

• Materials/source: Rice husks/various countries
• Design: Sony Group Corporation
• Manufacture: Sony Group Corporation
• Application: Various companies

1. Rice husks
2. Activated carbon
3. Triporous fibre thread^TM
4. Triporous fibre fabric^TM

080 — Malai – a biomaterial from agricultural waste

Malai is a new leather-like material made from waste coconut water. Coconut-processing factories in India often only use the flesh of the nut. The discarded water is taken by the manufacturer, then sterilised and fed with bacteria. This creates a biofilm that is harvested, mixed with natural fibres and processed into a sheet material. Every 4,000 litres of waste coconut water yields 320 square metres of material.

• Materials/source: Malai biocomposite (bacterial cellulose, hemp fibre, sisal fibre, banana stem fibre), brown coconut waste, India
• Design: Zuzana Gombošová, 2021
• Manufacture: Malai

Colour samples

‘Malai’ is coloured with 100% natural dyes: indigo, madder, marigold, gall, pomegranate peel, cutch bark and chlorophyll

081 — Waste lab – a new material from sugar waste

Waste LAB is developing a range of materials using the skin of sugar beets. A by-product of the sugar industry, beet skin is one of the biggest agricultural waste streams in Poland. Sonia Jaśkiewicz began working with the cellulose-rich skins for a graduation project in 2017, and is now using them to develop natural alternatives to single-use packaging and MDF.

• Materials/source: Sugar beet pulp, natural binders/sugar beet skins, waste from the sugar factory in Opalenica, western Poland
• Design: Sonia Jaśkiewicz, 2017–ongoing

Research tests and samples

Experimenting with material thickness – from soft, thin films to rigid, thick tiles – and testing implementation of research into products.

082 — Totomoxtle – a veneer from corn husk waste

This decorative veneer, used for high-end interiors and furniture, is made from the husks of endangered heirloom corn from Mexico. The varieties of native corn are in decline due to the increased use of modified imported seed and pesticides. By working with indigenous communities from Tonahuixtla, its designer Fernando Laposse provides employment, supports resilient farming practices and preserves local biodiversity.

• Materials/source: Heirloom corn cobs/Tonahuixtla, Mexico
• Design: Fernando Laposse, 2019

083 — Marinatex – a biomaterial from fish-farming waste

MarinaTex is a film-like material made from biological waste from the fishing industry and red algae. Durable, compostable, translucent and flexible, it offers an alternative to plastic packaging and diverts from landfill some of the 172,207 tonnes of industrial fish waste produced annually in the United Kingdom. MarinaTex designer Lucy Hughes is working with scientists to optimise the material for industrial, scalable and commercial use in the United Kingdom.

• Materials/source: Biological waste from the UK fishing industry, red algae
• Design: Lucy Hughes, 2019–ongoing

084 — Tree column _ no.1 – using waste to build

This column, made from discarded takeaway coffee cups, turns waste into a building material. The cups are digested by mycelium, the root network of fungi, and converted into a biological paste that can be 3D printed. Transforming waste into construction materials helps to deal with the 30,000 tonnes of coffee cups discarded in the United Kingdom each year that cannot be recycled due to their plastic lining.

• Materials/source: Mycelium, paper waste, coffee cup waste from London’s hospitality industry
• Design: Blast Studio (Biological Laboratory of Architecture and Sensitive Technology), 2021

Film

“Urban stomach: from waste to mycelium column”

• Film-maker: Blast Studio, 2021
• Duration: 2:49