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Natural Material Studio creates “flexible” bio textile from waste bricks
CategoriesSustainable News

Natural Material Studio creates “flexible” bio textile from waste bricks

By Zarkon Group,

Copenhagen-based Natural Material Studio and designer Zuzanna Skurka have created an installation at Milan design week from soft bio textiles made from surplus bricks.

Called Brick Textiles, the project is on display at Alcova – a travelling exhibition platform for independent design that is held at a different disused site in Milan each year.

Hanging textiles made from waste bricks and bioplastic
Natural Material Studio and Zuzanna Skurka created textiles from waste bricks

Natural Material Studio worked with Polish designer and researcher Zuzanna Skurka to create the textiles from highly porous repurposed bricks that were classified as waste after demolition projects.

“Rule one is, you should work with materials that are already there,” studio founder Bonnie Hvillum told Dezeen in Milan.

Slabs of biomaterial at Alcova 2023 in a former slaughterhouse, by Natural Material Studio
The project is on display at Alcova in Milan

The textiles were made from a combination of crushed bricks bonded together with Procel – a home-compostable, protein-based bioplastic of natural softener and pigments developed by Natural Material Studio.

Featuring a distinctly reddish hue, the textiles were divided into large, roughly-cut slabs that hang suspended from the roof on metal bars in a room at Alcova to form a dramatic installation illuminated by skylights.

Swirly pattern on reddish-hued Brick Textiles by Natural Material Studio
Swirly patterns made by the crushed bricks characterise the textile

Natural Material Studio and Skurka drew upon traditional weaving techniques to create the textile, which was made by incorporating bricks and Procel into a “biomaterial matrix”, according to Hvillum.

The material owes its strength, colour and texture to the bricks, which create unique swirly patterns on each slab that are produced randomly during the “fluid casting process”, she explained.

Hanging textiles that form a "biomaterial matrix" on display at Milan design week
Hvillum described the product as a “biomaterial matrix”

“We were very curious about this question of how can architecture be flexible, more simple and translucent even? added Hvillum. “It’s all the opposite aspects of a brick.”

“When we think of brick it’s like a solid, rigid, structural wall,” she continued. “But how can we make more flexible and fluid architecture today?”

Hanging textiles and old bricks at Alcova
Examples of the bricks the designers used are positioned underneath the textiles

Holes were pierced into the corners of the slabs so that they can be linked together.

While the water-resistant textile is already being used by interior architects as room dividers, Hvillum said that the studio hopes that one day it could form whole walls.

“The way we build and how we live in the built environment shapes us, so if we can build a more flexible and organic biomaterial, we want to start the exploration of what that experience is,” she continued.

This year, the Alcova exhibition takes place at a former slaughterhouse in Porta Vittoria. The formation of brick-based textiles hangs from metal bars where meat once hung at the site.

“There’s something funny and a little bit rough about that image,” acknowledged Hvillum.

Hanging reddish hued bio textiles by Natural Material Studio
The textiles hang where meat was once suspended in the former slaughterhouse

The materials specialist explained that Brick Textiles intends to salvage something from the past and propose fresh ways of thinking about an existing resource.

“It’s new materials we’re developing, so we still don’t know everything about them,” she reflected. “And that’s the beauty and honesty of it.”

Established in 2018, Natural Material Studio has created a number of repurposed materials for wide-ranging projects. These include crockery for a seafood restaurant made from leftover scallop shells and clothing created with algae, clay and foam.

Brick Textiles is on display at Alcova from 17 to 23 April 2023 as part of Milan design week. See our Milan design week 2023 guide on Dezeen Events Guide for information about the many other exhibitions, installations and talks taking place throughout the week.



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Using insects to turn waste into valuable products
CategoriesSustainable News

Using insects to turn waste into valuable products

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: According to a paper from the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment, 36 per cent of the world’s crop calories are actually used for animal feed, which is an inefficient way of producing food. For example, it takes about 100 calories of grain to produce just 12 calories of chicken or three calories of beef. However, a biotech startup in India is developing a more efficient way to feed livestock – using insects.

Instead of growing grain, Loopworm farms black soldier flies and processes them into animal feed products. The insects are raised on food waste sourced from food processors, retail chains, and fruit markets. Once grown, the insects are processed into animal and fish feed.

The finished meal is high in protein, containing around 60 per cent crude protein. The company also claims that it is rich in bio-active peptides which promote anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, and anti-microbial properties. Because of this, it can be used as an ingredient in fish, poultry, and even pet food formulations as a replacement for fish meal. The feed also has a lower ash content than traditional meals, which makes it more digestible.

Co-founders Ankit Alok Bagaria and Abhi Gawri set up Loopworm to help solve India’s food waste problem. Bagaria explains: “Our major concern was that we had a significant amount of food waste in India … and there wasn’t much of a meaningful solution, where food waste is actually upcycled. There are solutions like composting, or biogas generation, which actually down cycles the product.”

Insect farming has been gaining traction in recent years as entrepreneurs and scientists search for alternative ways of producing protein for animal and human consumption. Some other innovations that Springwise has spotted include using insects to produce aquaculture feed, and a project that converts waste into animal feed using insects.

Written By: Lisa Magloff

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Using machine learning to map worldwide waste
CategoriesSustainable News

Using machine learning to map worldwide waste

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Every year we dump a colossal 2.12 billion tonnes of waste. And if we filled trucks with this rubbish, there would be vans to go around the globe 24 times. Although our rubbish clearly isn’t stored just in trucks, do we know where it actually goes? Edinburgh-based data analytics firm Topolytics is looking for answers with its data aggregation and analytics platform that aims to make the world’s waste visible, verifiable, and valuable.

The platform, called WasteMap, collects and analyses data about waste types, amounts, and movements to create insights for waste producers, investors, and governments across numerous sites, regions, and countries. With this, Topolytics envisions waste and management resources becoming more transparent and effective for both commercial use and the environment.

Michael Groves, Topolytics chief executive, explains that, “it helps waste producers and recyclers to drive resource and cost efficiencies, to trace the movement of waste and measure their impact, whilst validating performance and improving the quality and reliability of ESG and carbon reporting.”

The Scottish firm has reportedly raised £1.5 million (around €1.69 million) from “seasoned hight-net-worth-investors” and a UK Research and Innovation grant. With this money, the company claims it will launch its WasteMap solution and further commercial business.

Springwise has previously spotted other intelligent technologies that help manage the waste we make, including an AI-powered litter-picking vehicle and an AI-handled waste-sorting process.

Written By: Georgia King

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Treating biohazardous lab waste on-site
CategoriesSustainable News

Treating biohazardous lab waste on-site

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Global waste generation has increased every year for decades and is likely to continue growing. Hospitals contribute a sizeable amount of waste to that total, with the global healthcare industry responsible for more than four per cent of worldwide net greenhouse gas emissions. Hazardous chemicals are part of the problem, with lab waste consisting of a mix of sharps, chemicals, plastics, and glass. 

The recycling industry is struggling to cope with the volume of waste that needs processing, and new solutions are required. Irish biotechnology company Envetec has created a proprietary biodegradable chemical that processes lab waste on-site. Called GENERATIONS, the system transforms potential pollution into recyclable polymer flakes that are safe to handle and transport – and are usable in a huge range of other manufacturing processes. 

GENERATIONS is a carbon-neutral process that is set up within or very near a laboratory to enable minimal transport costs. The biodegradable chemical uses far less water than traditional treatment systems, and Envetec works with teams and organisations in the diagnostics, food and beverage, and pharmaceutical industries to design bespoke treatment and recycling processes. Envetec helps organisations track their changes and results, and strive to meet international standards for recycling and net-zero commitments.  

Finding ways to transform hazardous chemicals into non-toxic, useful products or replace them altogether are challenges that innovators are approaching in a variety of ways. Springwise has spotted carbon-negative chemicals produced for industrial manufacturing processes, as well as wastewater treatment sludge used to repair municipal pipes.

Written By: Keely Khoury

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Upcycling food waste into dried fruit snacks
CategoriesSustainable News

Upcycling food waste into dried fruit snacks

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Faced with the knowledge that California throws away more peaches than the entire state of Georgia produces in a year, The Ugly Company founder Ben Moore wanted to help put a stop to such waste. Rather than discarding fruits that are too misshapen to be sold to supermarkets, The Ugly Company upcycles them into healthy dried fruit snacks.  

Run by a team with close ties to the farming industry, the startup sources most of its product locally from the San Joaquin Valley in California. Cherries, peaches, apricots, kiwis, and nectarines are dried and packaged for sale in individual snack packs. It takes eight pounds of fresh fruit to create one pound of dried fruit, so each pack of Ugly fruit represents two and a half pounds of fruit rescued from waste.  

As well as preventing food waste, the company adds value to the local farming economy. Farmers no longer have to pay for the collection and dumping of their unused fruit. Instead, The Ugly Company pays growers for crops that are good to eat but deemed ‘too ugly’ for general wholesale, whether that be because they are too small, or have an odd colour or shape. 

Buyers can find the fruit in several grocery chains, including Krogers’s, Hy-Vee, and Whole Foods, as well as online and via subscription boxes. Thanks to a recent Series A funding round that raised $9 million (about €8.4 million), the company plans to expand its processing capacity and keep up with growing national demand.  

Other ways in which Springwise has spotted innovations reducing food waste include turning broccoli stems into alternative proteins, and using AI-powered scanners to track the freshness of produce.

Written By: Keely Khoury

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Mill bin dries and shrinks food waste so it can be sent off for reuse
CategoriesSustainable News

Mill bin dries and shrinks food waste so it can be sent off for reuse

By Zarkon Group,

US start-up Mill aimed to create the ultimate solution to household food waste when designing this bin, which dries out any leftovers so they can be posted to the company and given a new purpose.

Developed by two former Nest employees, the Mill bin slowly heats and mixes any food waste on a low-power cycle to dehydrate and shrink the scraps, allowing the bin to be emptied less often.

Photo of the Mill food waste bin in a kitchen
The Mill bin offers a new way to deal with kitchen food scraps

After a few weeks, when the bin is full, the user tips the resulting “food grounds” into a prepaid box and schedules a pick-up to have it posted back to Mill as part of a membership-based service.

The process presents an alternative to sending food to landfill and composting, which can require specific conditions or combinations of waste to work effectively.

Photo of a woman tipping a tray of food grounds into a carboard box labelled Mill
The bin heats and dehydrates leftovers to become food grounds

The company is currently working through the scientific and regulatory processes to turn the grounds into a commercial chicken feed ingredient.

Mill’s goal is to keep leftovers in the food system and reuse them in the most valuable, resource-efficient way.

Mill box in front of a door
The dried food grounds can be placed into a prepaid box and sent to Mill for reuse

While the bin is in use, Mill promises that there should be no noticeable smell – even as the food scraps are heated.

The evaporating water and air from the bin are pushed through an odour management system that incorporates a charcoal filter before the air is expelled through an exhaust fan at the rear of the bin.

Rendering of three phone screens showing the Mill app showing how the app monitors the grinding of food scraps and schedules pickups of the boxes from members' front doors
Pickups can be scheduled via an accompanying app

Mill was founded by Matt Rogers and Harry Tannenbaum at the start of the pandemic, when the duo found themselves “stuck at home staring at and smelling our own trash”, and becoming increasingly obsessed with waste, according to Tannenbaum.

“We looked at what makes up landfills,” he told Dezeen. “The single largest inhabitant is food and our kitchens at home are the number one source.”

Photo of the Mill food waste bin in a kitchen
The design has a “friendly and approachable” pill shape

“And what’s worse is that, when food ends up in a landfill, not only do we waste all the nutrients and resources that went into growing it and getting it to your plate, it releases methane,” he continued.

Methane accounts for about 20 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions but because of its potency, it is estimated to trap approximately 86 times more heat in the atmosphere than an equivalent amount of carbon dioxide on a 20-year timescale.

Rogers and Tannenbaum started by thinking about all the ways that the experience of dealing with home food waste could be improved – “no smell, no flies, less trips taking out the trash” – and tried to deliver all these solutions in one package.

“Some of these things are built into the hardware, where the bucket is transformed into a bottomless pit,” Tannenbaum said. “80 per cent of food is water, so it shrinks down significantly when dehydrated so you have to take out the trash less.”

Boy putting stickers on a white Mill bin
A wood veneer lid conceals its inner workings

“Some are more subtle, like the impact tracking so you can see how much you’re wasting and become a better buyer and start saving money at the grocery store,” he continued.

The duo designed the bin in-house, aiming for a minimalistic look and a “friendly and approachable” pill shape, with the LED display interface hidden underneath a wood veneer lid so as not to command attention.

Photo of a girl sliding food scraps into the Mill bin in her family kitchen
The product is currently only available in the US

Mill has recently launched and is currently only available in the US.

Other innovations in waste disposal in recent years include the Townew bin that automatically seals and changes bin bags and the prototype Taihi bin, which composts waste using a Japanese fermentation method.

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Upcycling broccoli waste into sustainable protein
CategoriesSustainable News

Upcycling broccoli waste into sustainable protein

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Broccoli is a healthy food containing fibre, vitamin C, vitamin K, iron, and potassium. It also boasts more protein than most other vegetables, with virtually no fat. However, around 70 per cent of the entire broccoli harvest is left in the field. This is because only the small, centre portion of each plant – the florets – is harvested for food, leaving most of the stems and leaves to rot, even though they are perfectly edible.

Startup Upp is working to change this, with a two-pronged approach. The company is developing an automated harvester that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and computer vision to harvest the centre portion and stems separately. The harvester will then deliver the fresh broccoli for sale and the stems and leaves for upcycling into new products.

These upcycled stems and leaves will be used to produce protein by-products, as the company is looking to provide an alternative plant-based protein to pea and soya. Upp argues that using broccoli as a protein source is less carbon-intensive than soy or peas because the broccoli is already being grown for other uses.

David Whitewood, CEO of Upp says: “Upp is all about making the most of the crops that we already grow (…) In a future market of bioreactor and lab-grown alt-proteins, plant-based foods with good provenance will attract a premium like organic grass-fed beef does today.”

Upp has recently secured £500,000 (around €560,000) in pre-seed funding, in a round led by Elbow Beach Capital, to develop and commercialise its technology.

Food waste is a massive issue. Luckily, there is no shortage of innovations seeking to tackle it. Some that Springwise has spotted recently include a handheld system that uses AI to check freshness levels of fruit, and a closed-loop system that converts food waste into nutrients for use in hydroponics.

Written By: Lisa Magloff

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Seven alternative bricks made of reclaimed waste and biomaterials
CategoriesSustainable News

Seven alternative bricks made of reclaimed waste and biomaterials

By Zarkon Group,

Expanded cork, construction waste and human urine feature in this roundup of brick alternatives, designed to reduce the masonry unit’s embodied carbon footprint.

After concrete and steel, brick has become the latest focus for architects, designers and material researchers hoping to slash the emissions associated with building materials.

That’s because bricks are generally made from clay – a finite resource that needs to be mined and shipped around the globe – as well as being fired in fossil fuel-powered kilns at temperatures of more than 1,000 degrees Celsius, often for several days.

This energy-intensive process generates not just a large amount of greenhouse gas emissions but also carbon monoxide and other dangerous air pollutants, especially in South Asia where kilns are often still powered by coal.

To tackle these problems, brick manufacturers and researchers are increasingly looking at how to make use of local waste materials to create masonry units, as well as reverting to traditional methods of sun-drying to cut out the need for firing.

Read on for seven examples of brick alternatives, ranging from experimental student projects to the Dezeen Award-winning K-Briq, which is set to go into mass production this spring.

Cork blocks by MPH Architects, Bartlett School of Architecture, University of Bath, Amorim UK and Ty-Mawr

Interlocking blocks of expanded cork are stacked like Lego blocks without the need for mortar or glue in this construction system, which was used to build the Stirling Prize-nominated Cork House.

This means the bricks can be used to create structures that are easily disassembled, recycled and reused, as well as having the potential to be carbon negative due to the large amounts of CO2 sequestered by the cork oaks, from which the material is sourced.

London firm MPH Architects has been working on the system in collaboration with various research institutes since 2014, and is now hoping to develop it into a self-build cork construction kit.

Find out more about the cork blocks  ›

Dezeen Awards sustainable
Photo by Zero Waste Scotland

K-Briq by Kenoteq

At 90 per cent, the K-Briq offers “the highest recycled content of any brick” currently on the market, according to manufacturer Kenoteq, leading the brick to be crowned sustainable design of the year at the 2022 Dezeen Awards.

As the brick doesn’t need to be fired, it requires 90 per cent less energy in its production than a traditional brick and ultimately emits less than a tenth of the carbon emissions in its manufacture.

Out of the brick alternatives on this list, K-Briq is the closest to commercialisation. But its prolonged curing process has previously posed issues for quick-turnaround projects, with South African studio Counterspace forced to abandon plans to integrate K-Briqs into the 2021 Serpentine Pavilion due to long lead times.

Find out more about the K-Briq ›

Building the Local by Ellie Birkhead

Building the Local by Ellie Birkhead

This student project from Design Academy Eindhoven graduate Ellie Birkhead makes use of local waste materials such as hair from a hairdresser, horse manure from a stable and wool from a farm to reinforce unfired clay bricks.

The result is different region-specific bricks, which Birkhead argues can help to manage waste in a more circular way and “forge a future for local industry”.

Find out more about Building the Local ›

Gent Waste Brick by Carmody Groarke, TRANS Architectuur Stedenbouw, Local Works Studio and BC Materials

Gent Waste Brick by Carmody Groarke, TRANS Architectuur Stedenbouw, Local Works Studio and BC Materials

To form the new wing of the Design Museum Gent, architecture studios Carmody Groarke and TRANS Architectuur Stedenbouw worked with materials researchers to turn local municipal waste such as demolition concrete and glass into an unfired low-carbon brick.

This carries one-third of the embodied carbon as a typical Belgian clay brick and is produced in a simple process that is being opened up to the public through workshops, encouraging local residents to have a hand in the construction of their museum.

“The bricks will be manufactured on a brownfield site in Ghent using a clean simple production process, which could easily be replicated in other urban settings,” said Carmody Groarke. “There are no resultant emissions, by-products or waste.”

Find out more about the Gent Waste Brick ›

Green Charcoal bio-brick by Indian School of Design and Innovation Mumbai

Green Charcoal bricks by the Indian School of Design and Innovation

These concrete bricks from the Indian School of Design and Innovation in Mumbai are enriched with soil, charcoal and loofah fibres, which create air pockets and help to reduce the amount of cement needed in their production process.

The resulting building blocks are up to 20 times more porous than common bricks, promoting biodiversity by making space for plants and insects in our cities, the researchers claim.

Find out more about Green Charcoal ›

Mycelium Brick by The Living

Mycelium Brick by The Living

One of the first experiments in using mycelium at an architectural scale saw New York studio The Living construct 2014’s MoMA PS1 pavilion using bricks that were grown from the root-like structure of fungi.

Based on a process pioneered by biomaterials company Ecovative, this involved placing waste corn stalks from agriculture inside a mould and encouraging the mycelium to grow around this aggregate, effectively cementing the brick.

Mycelium is also increasingly being explored as a means of insulating and fire-proofing buildings that can help to sequester carbon while being biodegradable.

Find out more about the Mycelium Brick ›

Bio-bricks from human urine by University of Cape Town

Urine bio-bricks by Suzanne Lambert

In this experimental project from University of Cape Town researcher Suzanne Lambert, human urine, sand and bacteria are combined in brick-shaped moulds.

The bacteria triggers a chemical reaction that breaks down the urea in the urine while producing calcium carbonate – the main component of cement – in much the same process that seashells are formed.

“The longer you allow the little bacteria to make the cement, the stronger the product is going to be,” Lambert told Dezeen.

Find out more about the urine bio-bricks ›

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Municipal waste used to form brick for Design Museum Gent extension
CategoriesSustainable News

Municipal waste used to form brick for Design Museum Gent extension

By Zarkon Group,

Architecture studios Carmody Groarke and TRANS Architectuur Stedenbouw have collaborated with material researchers to develop a brick made from local construction waste, which will be used to build the new wing of the Design Museum Gent.

The Gent Waste Brick was designed together with circular economy specialist Local Works Studio and materials manufacturer BC Materials to be low-carbon, reportedly carrying just one-third of the embodied carbon of a typical Belgian clay brick.

A stack of Gent Waste Bricks designed for the Design Museum Gent
The Gent Waste Brick is made from recycled concrete and glass

The brick is made from 63 per cent recycled municipal waste sourced from Ghent, which was collected from a local recycling centre for demolition concrete and glass.

These recycled materials are mixed with lommelzand sand from the Belgian municipality of Lommel and bound together with hydraulic lime and ground calcium carbonate.

Gent Waste Brick designed for the Design Museum Gent
The pale grey tone of the brick was informed by the colour of local buildings

The bricks are cured in a humid environment for two weeks and then left to air-dry rather than being fired, reducing the amount of energy needed to manufacture them.

Instead, the material gets its strength through a process known as mineral carbonation, which involves the calcium carbonate in the brick reacting with carbon dioxide in the surrounding air.

“The carbonation will continue forever on the facade, making the blocks stronger and stronger over the years,” TRANS Architectuur Stedenbouw told Dezeen.

“This fabrication process, coupled with the use of recycled composites, results in a brick with 0.17 kilograms of CO2e per kilogram – just one-third the embodied carbon of a Belgian clay-fired brick.”

Production process of the Gent Waste Brick
The bricks are cured in a humid setting and left to dry naturally

Designed for the external facade of Design Museum Gent’s new wing, the Gent Waste Brick has a pale grey colour that references the colour of other civic buildings local to the city and was certified for building use in September 2022.

“The team have worked closely alongside the Design Museum Gent to produce a highly crafted, bespoke material object that embodies the culture and ethos of the institution, challenging the material qualities and aesthetic properties of a traditional brick and adding to the lineage of design objects displayed and cared for by the museum,” said Carmody Groarke.

Render of the Design Museum Gent extension
The bricks will be used for the Design Museum Gent extension. Image by Carmody Groarke, TRANS Architectuur Stedenbouw and RE-ST

Design Museum Gent is organising workshops for local residents to take part in making some of the bricks that will be used in the extension’s construction.

“The bricks will be manufactured on a brownfield site in Ghent using a clean simple production process, which could easily be replicated in other urban settings,” said Carmody Groarke. “There are no resultant emissions, by-products or waste.”

Other brick alternatives featured on Dezeen include Kenoteq’s unfired K-Briq, which is made of 90 per cent construction waste, and masonry blocks made from algae-based cement by Prometheus Materials.

The photography by Cinzia Romanin and Thomas Noceto unless stated.

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An eco-friendly helmet made from waste scallop shells
CategoriesSustainable News

An eco-friendly helmet made from waste scallop shells

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Each year, Soya district in northern Japan produces 40,000 tonnes of shells. This marine waste is an inevitable result of the fishing industry in Sarufutsu Village, which regularly wins the prize for Japan’s largest scallop catch. Until 2021, scallop shells were exported out of the country for re-use, but this trade has now ceased. And, while the shells are picked up and disposed of by companies for a fee, there have been issues with the shells being stacked in large piles before disposal. 

Now, Sarufutsu village, along with creative agency TBWA\Hakuhodo, design startup Quantum, and plastics manufacturer Koushi Chemical Industry, has come up with a solution: an environmentally friendly helmet made from the discarded shells. In addition to cutting down on plastics, the ‘SHELLMET’ protects fishermen working in an industry that is notoriously dangerous, especially in a part of the world prone to natural disasters such as earthquakes, heavy rain, and snow.  

Moreover, the SHELLMET contributes to a 36 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions compared to a helmet made from 100 per cent new plastic, as well as a 20 per cent reduction compared to limestone-derived eco-plastics. As a result, the eco-friendly helmet not only solves a particular problem facing the local community – it also demonstrates how waste materials can reduce environmental impact by replacing fossil-derived plastic. 

The design of the SHELLMET is inspired by biomimicry – the application of the mechanisms of the natural world to technological development. After all, shells protect scallops and oysters in the wild, and the helmet’s design incorporates a special rib structure that mimics the shape of the scallop shells. The partnership claims this improves the helmet’s durability by around 30 per cent.  

Other innovations spotted by Springwise that put marine waste to use include tiles made from fish scales, batteries made from crab shells, and shrimp shells used to strengthen concrete. 

Written By: Matthew Hempstead

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