In 2010, structural engineer and architect, Arthur Huang and his Taiwan-based building materials solutions company, Miniwiz, made headlines with EcoArk, a nine-story, earthquake and fire resistant exhibition building in Taipei constructed of bricks made from 1.5 million recycled plastic bottles. In the Miniwiz Trash Lab, about 70 engineers have also made furniture from sneaker soles, carpets from old clothes, and a miniature wind turbine and solar panel from electronic waste and paper that can charge smartphones.
Huang has also created Trashpresso, an 8-meter-long, solar-powered mobile upcycling plant. Plastic waste (polyethylene, high-density polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene) is fed into a shredder, where is it broken down into smaller pieces and cleaned. The material is then pressed into new products, such as small bricks or household items. “Our environment is being polluted by our consumption patterns,” says Huang. “From packaging to fast fashion to car batteries, we have to actively transform all this material that’s been collecting for the past 40 or 50 years – it’s not going away, so somebody has to deal with it.”
Pollution, environmental degradation, diversity loss and climate change – it has never been more evident that the way we are living is unsustainable, and Huang is one of a growing number of scientists, educators and environmentalists embracing the concept of the circular economy. Looking beyond the current model of take, make, and throw away, the circular economy redefines our understanding of growth, building natural, economic and social wealth for the betterment of people and the planet.
Instead of being an afterthought, the polluting effects of industry – at all levels, from individual to global – are designed into the system so that waste is designed out. Products and materials are reused, recycled and upcycled, and there is a renewed focus on regenerating natural systems.