RECYCLED MATERIALS

In the 21st century where science and technology are evolving from place to place, green, ecological, and sustainable building design theories and multi-dimensional interdisciplinary research areas influence each other, and the research and exploration of recycled materials have also developed to a certain extent. Recycled materials refer to products made from waste materials through a remanufacturing process, and are in compliance with waste reduction, reuse and recycling. Among all kinds of waste, the range of materials that can be recovered and recycled is very wide. There are seven types of recycled materials that can be developed: scrap metal, wastepaper, waste plastic, waste rubber, waste building materials, and electronic waste. Recycling materials before they exit the economic cycle is a key concept in the circular economy. Materials can be “closed-loop”, which means they can be used again for the same purpose; materials can also be “open-loop”, which means that although they can be reused, they are not used for the previous purpose. This is a way to give new life to old products. For our project, we want to recycle marine plastic waste for reuse. “Recent research estimates that an average of 8 million metric tons of plastic materials enter the worlds’ oceans annually, increasing at the rate of 7% per year as of 2015.”

Last year, a 4.7-meter whale died bizarrely on the coast of the Philippines. It was discovered that it contained 40 kg of plastic in its body. This whale would not be the last one to die from eating plastic waste. But these lives that died of plastic waste remind us again and again with bloody reality: Plastic pollution is bringing endless scourge. After recognizing the seriousness of the ocean plastic problem, we need to try to reverse the situation. Starting to collect marine plastic waste for remodeling or reuse in various fields. One way to remove plastic from the ocean and use it for new purposes is to recycle it. The best practice is to keep plastic in the production cycle, that is, use functional infrastructure to recycle the material and continue to use it to make new products. There is another way to dispose of the material, which is not conventional recycling (in other words, it is broken down into raw materials), but the plastic material is finally reused to make other substances. The concept of “utilizing marine renewable materials” has been practiced before. For example, Parley for the Oceans partnered with Adidas to produce a shoe made from recycled plastic floats and partnered with H & M to launch a series of products made from recycled plastic. In addition, many cosmetics companies have also followed the current trend to make their cosmetic boxes from recycled or reused plastic bottles. For the project, we collect various types of plastic waste from the sea, then crush it and reshape it to make a new material to use as a large frame for the model. The gap between the internal structure and the external structure is also made of recycled plastic to fill. The reason why plastic is used as the shell frame is because the presence of a lot of plastic waste will bring harm to many marine life. Many marine life is restricted by plastic waste and restricts their growth. Gradually shrinking from a large space is like the limitation of marine life by plastic waste. I want to use this method to give people an intuitive feeling for social reflection.