Snøhetta designs compostable hemp light Superdupertube
CategoriesSustainable News

Snøhetta designs compostable hemp light Superdupertube

Norwegian studio Snøhetta has teamed up with lighting brand Ateljé Lyktan to create Superdupertube, an office lamp made from extruded hemp and sugarcane bioplastic.

The design is a contemporary update of Ateljé Lyktan‘s Supertube – an office light from the 1970s made from extruded aluminium.

Hemp lamp by Snøhetta and Ateljé LyktanHemp lamp by Snøhetta and Ateljé Lyktan
The Superdupertube is a modern take on the Supertube lamp

“[The Supertube] had finished production in 2010 or something like that, so it was iconic but sort of forgotten,” Snøhetta partner Jenny B Osuldsen told Dezeen. “And it’s a tube. It’s not rocket science but it is what you need for a smart lamp in an office.”

“We really loved it and think it has a lot of possibilities, so we wanted to upgrade it to a new level,” she added.

Tubular hemp lamp Tubular hemp lamp
It is made from hemp and can be industrially composted. Photo by Ateljé Lyktan

The extrusion technique for the original lamp was developed in the 1960s, and Snøhetta and Ateljé Lyktan decided to create a lamp that would nod to the original design.

However, the aim was to lower the carbon footprint of the lamp by choosing the most sustainable material possible.

View of compostable lamp made from hempView of compostable lamp made from hemp
Snøhetta and Ateljé Lyktan chose to use hemp as the material is renewable and durable

The studios played around with multiple different materials before settling on the hemp bioplastic, which was used to form Snøhetta’s first office lighting design.

Snøhetta and Ateljé Lyktan first worked together on The 7th Room, a charred-timber cabin suspended among the treetops in northern Sweden, for which they also collaborated on the lighting design.

Detailed view of Superdupertube lampDetailed view of Superdupertube lamp
The lighting features twisted louvres. Photo by Ateljé Lyktan

“When we were doing The 7th Room project up in northern Sweden, everything was in pine and there were lots of pine cones,” Osuldsen said.

“We wanted to find a product or material that isn’t used for anything else, so we started testing the use of pine cones by grinding them, but it didn’t work.”

“The fibres in the cones are too short,” said Ateljé Lyktan product director Malin Gadd. “We also tried using coffee grounds but they are even shorter, so we realised quite quickly that we needed fibres that are long and strong.”

“That’s where the hemp fibres come into the picture,” she added.

Snøhetta and Ateljé Lyktan sourced the hemp used for the lights from the Netherlands, as the quality of the hemp from Swedish farmers “wasn’t quite there yet”, according to Gadd.

The Superdupertube light shown in an interiorThe Superdupertube light shown in an interior
Its shape is both extruded and injection-moulded

The hemp is mixed with a polylactic acid (PLA) bioplastic derived from sugarcane, alongside wood cellulose and different minerals to create a fossil- and gas-free composite.

The material is then extruded to create the main body of the lamp, which also comprises injection-moulded louvres and side covers. To add to the organic feel of the light, its electric cables are covered with linen fabric.

“Hemp is an old cultural plant and it’s very easy to renew [by growing more],” Osuldsen said. “And it’s very durable.”

Fastening on hemp lamp by Ateljé LyktanFastening on hemp lamp by Ateljé Lyktan
Linen fabric covers the electric cable. Photo by Ateljé Lyktan

The Superdupertube can be composted in an industrial composter or recycled and ground down into pellets to create more lamps.

However, this currently requires owners to send the lamps back to the producer, as the material cannot be processed in regular recycling centres.

Using the hemp bioplastic reduces the lamp’s carbon footprint by over 50 per cent compared to traditional aluminium variants, according to Snøhetta and Ateljé Lyktan.

Colour of SuperdupertubeColour of Superdupertube
The Superdupertube comes in a natural colour. Photo by Ateljé Lyktan

The dimmable Superdupertube features twisted louvres – an architectural detail that helps the light feel softer by angling the glare away.

“That’s why it’s a perfect workspace luminaire, it’s adapted to be better for the person sitting working and it’s also totally unique – it doesn’t exist on the market,” Gadd said.

The Superdupertube, which comes in four different lengths, has an organic beige colour with a natural pattern from the hemp and other ingredients.

Wooden wall behind Superdupertube lampWooden wall behind Superdupertube lamp
It is the first time Snøhetta has designed an office lamp

“We didn’t really know how it would look,” Osuldsen said. “The material is the colour of the hemp. And, of course, there’s probably something from the sugarcane because it’s heated up. It’s burnt sugar in a way.”

“So we get this specific colour and that also means that all of them will be a little bit different,” she added. “It’s all about the crops; if it’s a wet year or a dry year, the humidity in the material will be a little bit different. That’s why it’s sort of alive.”

Other recent Snøhetta projects include a glass-lined library in China designed to look like a forest and a hexagonal paving system for urban landscapes.

The photography is by Jonas Lindstrom unless otherwise stated.

Reference

A compostable clay cup replaces single-use plastic
CategoriesSustainable News

A compostable clay cup replaces single-use plastic

Spotted: Every hour, people across Germany buy 320,000 hot drinks in single-use disposable cups. And although many manufacturers have been working to make their cups recyclable, the reality is that – in Germany and beyond – little single-use packaging actually gets recycled. German startup GaeaStar has come up with a novel approach to reducing the waste, having developed disposable cups made from clay.

GaeaStar has proposed to make its cups on a special 3D printer that can create a cup in 30 seconds or less. The company plans to use a micro-factory model, establishing cup-printing centres near customers and sourcing clay locally. GaeaStar even foresees restaurants and takeaway spots having their own tabletop printers, and the cups be easily etched with a corporate logo as part of the printing process.

The cups can be washed and reused as many times as customers want and when it’s time for disposal, the cup can simply be smashed or used as a plant pot. While many clay pots can take thousands of years to decompose, the GaeaStar cup is thin and made of unglazed and unfired clay, which means it will decompose fairly rapidly.

GaeaStar recently completed a $6.5 million (around €5.9 million) seed round from investors including Morningside and Dart Labs. This is on top of an earlier $1.7 million (around €1.6 million) pre-seed round. The funds will go, in part, towards introducing the clay cups into the US in a trial with the Verve coffee chain in California, and conducting a complete life-cycle analysis of the environmental cost of the clay cups.

3D printing is rapidly becoming an important tool in developing more sustainable products. In addition to printed reusable cups, Springwise has also spotted the technology used for the manufacture of biodegradable glass and to produce fully-recyclable, custom footwear.

Written By: Lisa Magloff

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A bio-based electric toothbrush is compostable and recyclable 
CategoriesSustainable News

A bio-based electric toothbrush is compostable and recyclable 

Spotted: The second largest contributor to plastic pollution after plastic bags, plastic toothbrushes are almost all non-recyclable because of the number of tiny parts they contain. Bamboo brushes have become a common replacement, yet for those who love electric toothbrushes, what can they use instead? UK company SURI has the answer. The name stands for Sustainable Rituals, and the brand’s first product is the Sustainable Sonic Toothbrush. 

A mix of recyclable and compostable components, plus a modular design, gives SURI’s electric toothbrush an extensive life. Replacement brush heads come in packs of three, and the company provides a compostable return mailer with each order for users to send back used brush heads in for recycling.

Most current toothbrushes use nylon bristles, a material that contributes to the inability of waste management facilities to recycle them. SURI, on the other hand, uses castor oil for the bristles and corn starch for the brush head. The handle is easy-to-recycle aluminum. Available accessories include a UVC light self-cleaning and charging travel case, a magnetic mirror mount, and a paper washbag. Most components are recyclable or compostable, and the company provides instructions on its website for deconstructing products if a user is unable to ship them back for recycling.

Toothpaste tubes are also part of the personal hygiene pollution problem, and Springwise has spotted innovations seeking to change this through refillable toothpaste dispensers as well as toothpaste tablets.  

Written By: Keely Khoury

Reference