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What Do Miniwiz Do

The global population generates a whopping 2.01 billion tons of municipal solid waste every year. Unsurprisingly, high-income countries are responsible for about 34% of global waste production while only accounting for 16% of the total population.

 

Unfortunately, 33% of global waste is managed via environmentally unfriendly methods.

 

Much of this waste is dumped in landfills. Some of it rots and some of it does not. The waste may also generate methane gas, which contributes to global warming and the greenhouse effect. 

 

Waste incineration comes with its own problems. Burning plastic tends to generate toxic byproducts such as dioxins. The incineration process tends to release gases that contribute to air pollution and acid rain as well as ash that often contains traces of heavy metals and various toxins.

 

The cherry on top? Waste production is not stopping anytime soon — in fact, it is expected to grow to 3.4 billion tons by 2050.

 

So how can we combat this? Of course, the classic tactics of reuse, reduce, and recycle are always beneficial, but there's a fourth, increasingly popular tactic that both businesses and individuals are turning toward: the art and science of upcycling.

 

 

What Is Upcycling?

Upcycling is the reuse and repurposing of discarded material to create products of higher value. It offers several benefits for businesses, environmentally conscientious individuals, and the planet alike.

 

Presently, we occupy a "take-make-waste" economy: we extract resources, use them to manufacture goods, and eventually discard them once they are worn out. Upcycling offers a refreshing alternative and promotes what economists call a circular economy — an economy focused on regenerative product design, renewable energy, and a system in which materials already in circulation can be put to use time and time again.

 

Upcycling helps us move away from the rapid mass consumption of finite resources and toward a slower, more sustainable economic model. Reusing and repurposing materials from existing products can also help companies and businesses improve their bottom line and cut down on manufacturing costs.

 

How Upcycling Helps Fight Against Climate Change

Solid waste, including textiles and discarded fabric, naturally releases methane — a greenhouse gas — as they decompose in a landfill. At the opposite end of the textile manufacturing lifecycle, fiber production and cloth manufacturing require burning large quantities of fuel, releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Both of these processes contribute to the greenhouse effect and increase the risk of global warming.

 

Thankfully, this can be addressed through upcycling.

 

By preventing just 1 pound of clothing from being sent off to the landfill or incinerator, we can prevent the release of up to 4 pounds of carbon dioxide. For every 100 million tons of clothing that are upcycled or reused, this translates to an incredible 300-400 million tons of carbon dioxide prevented from being released into the atmosphere. It’s the effective equivalent of taking nearly 35,000 cars off the road.

 

3 Unique Upcycled Products

Here are a few recent examples of upcycling showcasing the ingenious ways in which you can transform old materials into new designs and contraptions.

 

Transforming Cigarette Butts into Building Materials

In 2016, Philip Morris International and MINIWIZ revealed "Anything Butts," a modular pavilion constructed out of 100% recycled and organic materials. The project is inspired by Italian architect Cesare Leonardi, known for his eclectic designs.

 

The pavilion is built out of IQOS Tetrapods, a new material born out of recycled and repurposed IQOS heatstick filters, a system that heats tobacco instead of burning it. Tetrapods are composed of MINIWIZ's PlyFix™ post-consumer recycled material as well as air purifying bamboo charcoal. These, too, are fully recyclable.

 

Building NikeLab's Interiors from Waste

Longtime partner NikeLab entered a collaboration with MINIWIZ in 2015 to build a series of stores with minimal material usage that would reuse their own production waste. There are now nine such stores around the world today: in New York, London, Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Milan, Beijing, and Shanghai.

 

NikeLab interiors harness a multitude of recycled materials, including:

• Ricefold, a MINIWIZ-recycled material reinforced with rice nano-silica

 

• ReGrind, a recycled material composite made out of recycled and discarded Nike footwear and apparel

 

• Materials created from e-waste (e.g. motherboards, casings, etc.)

 

Nike also collaborated with MINIWIZ to build the Nike Kicks Lounge X Xinyi A11 in Taipei, Taiwan. 70% of the materials used in the store are eco-friendly, thanks to over 250 pairs of sneakers collected by MINIWIZ from all over Taiwan. The store is surrounded by an Air Brick wall, which is constructed out of 12,000 100% recycled PET bottles.

 

These futuristic stores boast the potential of upcycled materials for construction and interior design, paving the way for similar sustainable designs in the future.

 

 

Furniture Made Out of Clothing

Upcycling from daily waste offers endless possibilities. MINIWIZ has even constructed furniture out of discarded apparel, taking advantage of the fibers to spin up eco-friendly chairs, tables, and bookshelves.

 

Temasek Shophouse, a social impact hub in Singapore, houses a number of MINIWIZ furniture products: coffee tables formed from used Starbucks cups, ceiling panels and sofa covers crafted from Coca-Cola bottles, and beautiful wall panels made out of repurposed rice husks.

 

 

Some of this furniture is made of 0waste fabric, a specialty material designed and engineered by MINIWIZ using a 100% recycled combination of apparel waste and recycled PET. Production of the fabric relies on technology conceived by Strong and Wise, a Taiwanese company that manufactures various materials from recycled clothing. The project 0waste fabric provides an environmentally friendly and economical alternative to traditional upholstery fabric and other furniture materials.

 

 

Conclusion

Saving the planet doesn't have to hurt your business's bottom line. Upcycling offers a creative and environmentally friendly solution to our world's climate crisis and appeases increasingly conscientious consumers.

 

Upcycled materials can save companies money by removing the need for resource extraction and manufacturing costs while allowing them to showcase their ingenuity and provide value to their customers in a multitude of ways.

 

Interested in exploring eco-friendly solutions and learning how to upcycle from daily waste? MINIWIZ has designed and created over 1,200 types of recycled composite materials. These materials can be used flexibly and be incorporated into a variety of products, from construction materials and furniture to home accents like candle holders and coasters.

 

You can learn more about our work here.

 

 

MINIWIZ Medium