Nzambi Matee, a 30-year-old who quit her job in oil and gas to work on her passion full-time, has created a lightweight and low-cost building material that is made of recycled plastic with sand to make bricks that are stronger than concrete material.
Photo Credit: Vestas Wind Systems A/S
Suppliers, fabricators and OEMs across the composite wind blade supply chain ramp up existing technologies, develop better reclamation methods and design more recyclable wind blades.
Source: Moving toward next-generation wind blade recycling | CompositesWorld
Using reclaimed materials and products can give your home a rustic charm while using existing items, keeping materials out of the landfill and reducing the demand for new products and the waste created when they’re made.
Source: 4 ways to revamp your interior design with sustainable products – Times of Oman
Thomas Dambo’s troll sculptures have been exhibited all over the world. Pictured: his piece ‘The six forgotten giants – little Tilde’ based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Credit: Lars W. Jensen
Based in Denmark, Dambo is the world’s most prominent ‘recycle artist,’ best known for giant troll sculptures all made from reclaimed materials.
Source: Big tourism boost for Mandurah as it welcomes Australian-first sculpture trail | Kalgoorlie Miner
The artist is fusing pieces from a broken generator, recycled kitchen utensils and collected scrap metal to create a metal fish.
Lloyd Alter’s cabin in Shoe Lake, Ontario, Canada. Lloyd Alter
The doors were grabbed from an office renovation, probably installed in the ’80s and replaced in the ’90s. The dining room table is cut out of a bowling alley, on a base my dad made; it was in his cottage for years. My dad also made the sideboard—it’s made from the floors of shipping containers.
Source: My Forest Cabin Is Built on Stilts With Recycled Materials
Not to mention: What steps were taken to source reclaimed materials? How was the water footprint of the materials reduced? What was done to ensure that the extraction and processing of the materials caused no ill health in communities local to their manufacture? How was renewable energy generation capacity increased either on or off site? How did the project reduce the energy consumption of the building’s users? How did the project reverse ecological harms?
Source: Maybe awards should celebrate co-operation rather than competition
The rear of the home has multi-level patios and sitting areas and a heated pool and spa. Eddie Avenue Photography
This unusual new spec house in the Virginia suburbs offers an old-fashioned mix of hardwood flooring milled from trees on the property and reclaimed materials from the former house on the site that’s been paired with ultra-modern features.
Urselmann Interior’s office is in Düsseldorf
These include existing wooden and terrazzo flooring that was salvaged during the renovation, as well as heaters obtained from resource-efficient building material platform Concular.
Source: Urselmann Interior renovates own office using recycled materials
Unique Homestays owner ‘Mouse’ shares the story of creation behind her two chocolate-box holiday rentals, Inkwell cottage and Filly Island.
Akin Studio won the AJ Small Projects Award 2022 last week for its ‘treehouse’ in rural Herefordshire.
Have you learned anything in terms of materials on this project that you might use on other schemes? The clients are incredibly resourceful, and we learnt to embrace reclaimed materials, as well as the importance of reuse and considering the afterlife of building components. In the case of Drovers’ Bough, the exposed structural elements are all carefully bolted together allowing for future disassembly or replacement, and many parts of the project were made from surplus materials or reclaimed products.
Source: AJ Small Projects winner: How Akin Studio designed its treehouse on stilts
Photo via Orcas Island Realty
Instead of a tiny beach cabin, it’s a 1,619 square foot home incorporating reclaimed materials and bright accents.
Source: Enjoy Lopez Island living at its best with this already-famous home for sale
Photo credit: 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge
Hotel Brooklyn Bridge will have you booking a room for the views of the eponymous man-made wonder yet reveling in the amenities upon your arrival. Billed as a hotel of “sustainable luxury,” the five-star hotel was designed by location artists using reclaimed materials and native greenery, lending to the tranquility of the space.
Source: 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge Is Secretly One of NYC’s Most Wellness-Focused Retreats
Image credit: Osborn House / Alan Jenson
“Just like a certain song or fragrance can have an incredible emotional impact on us, we believe design has the same power to evoke positive memories and feelings,” said Boronkay. “The combination of reclaimed materials paired with rich and tactile fabrics, curated objects from around Europe and personal touches in the different spaces will make you feel like you are being embraced by an interesting individual.”
Source: Linda Boronkay designs Osborn House – a whimsical country retreat in Australia • Hotel Designs
The eco-friendly fashion designer sources her materials from a nearby industrial estate to create her looks.
Jam Press/@broke_boutique
A London-based fashion designer is turning recycled rubber into 1970s punk rock-inspired accessories.East Londoner G Martin, 34, repurposed nearly 688 pounds of rubber that would be piling up in landfills by turning it into rockin’ recycled fashion pieces.
Source: I make my fetish gear from recycled tires to help save the planet
© Luna Wilds
Luna Wilds, an “off-grid” spa just outside Brighton in East Sussex, is a new retreat built with reclaimed materials, says Jane Dunford in The Guardian.
Artist Dolan Geiman of Denver readies his sculptures and collages = made from reclaimed materials – in preparation for a past Main St. Arts Festival. The festival returns April 7 downtown.
In February, festival officials announced that PNC Bank signed on as a long-term supporting member of the festival.
Source: Main Street Arts Festival returns Thursday in Fort Worth | Fort Worth Star-Telegram
They monitored and compared the material’s performance, finding that the crumb rubber had higher impact-resistance, toughness, ductility, damping ratio and better thermal and acoustic insulation. “The results clearly show that crumb rubber cement is a viable and promising alternative to conventional concrete,” says author of the study Professor Yan Zhuge.
Source: Concrete Made From Old Tires Proves Tougher and More Sustainable – COOL HUNTING®
He reflected on what this abundance of waste could mean in a region with limited economic activity. The result? An ambitious, wide-ranging waste management company Wiper dubbed 3F Waste Recovery. “3F is founded on the principle that every molecule that comes through our door, we want to have an application for it,” Wiper explains. “My vision is the landfill of the future—where producers can take anything they haven’t processed, to break it down into a form that has a function.”
This van has a distinctive Nordic feel (Picture: D+)
‘It’s pretty tragic that there’s no second-hand market value as some vehicles might be 20 years-old but they only have only 40,000 miles on the clock. I guess we are scrap angels – we see their potential and love the challenge of giving them a new purpose by turning them into something fun, useful and really cool.’
Source: How this scrap junkie turns old vans into unique homes and venues | Metro News
Crafted from rustic barn board and other reclaimed materials, it’s multi-purpose, practical and storybook-pretty.
Source: This little DIY house is a feather in his cap | The Star
Square Platter “Honeycomb”, curved Serving platter 12″
Clear window glass meets wire. You’d swear the wire is still there. Believe me, it’s not — just its spectacular and forever glowing trace.
Every piece is cut from used window-type glass, and kiln-fired over molds that give them their new form, as well as a brand new life.
COURTESY CAROLINE PERRON PHOTOGRAPHIES — Three years in the making, the patented machine cleans 99 per cent of a brick through a process involving a concrete grinder that allows the cleaning of the brick extremities.
Chifa says Maçonnerie Gratton calculates the brick recycling machine can eliminate up to 5.9 tonnes of CO2 emissions in the restoration of a 1,000 square foot brick wall. “Throughout Quebec and Canada this means a lot because we are all about bricks,” Stoia says. The recycling machine “sets the tone” for municipalities and the province to consider legislation on the reuse of construction materials. She adds recycling bricks for reuse helps to conserve Quebec’s architectural past.
Source: Brique-Recyc gives old bricks new life with innovative quick cleaning machine – constructconnect.com
In Nigeria, a sculptor has found a meeting point between art and waste management. Earnest Nkwocha is transforming discarded used tires, which litter streets in Lagos, into amazing work of art.
The construction industry is notoriously fragmented, with different sub-contractors often designing and developing parts of buildings without interacting with one another, which means opportunities to reuse materials are missed. However, if each component had a digital ‘passport’ which clearly defined its material composition alongside possible reuse options, materials would be far less likely to be wasted.
Source: Building a world free from waste and pollution | by Ellen MacArthur Foundation | Circulate | Medium
The carpets in the VISION EQXX are made from 100% bamboo fiber, and the seats are made of mushroom fibers and cactus fibers.
Mercedes-Benz AG – Communications/Mercedes-Benz AG
The interior of the VISION EQXX is free of animal products — its seats are made of mushroom fibers and cactus fibers. The carpets are made of bamboo, and the interior plastic is made out of trash that would typically be in a landfill. Using these materials halve the carbon footprint of leather, according to Mercedes.
Source: Mercedes’ unveils futuristic electric car concept : NPR
One of these goals relates to ROCKWOOL’s offering reclaimed materials services, Rockcycle. The service facilitates the take back of ROCKWOOL stone wool products from construction or demolition sites and ensures the material is reused or recycled, helping to address the challenge of construction waste accounting for more than one-third of all solid waste globally.
We used reclaimed materials where possible – the bathroom surfaces were all made from reclaimed school laboratory worktops.
We also believe in repurposing pieces where possible and encourage our clients to invest in ‘future heirlooms’.
Source: Meet The Interior Designers: Maddux Creative | sheerluxe.com
Student designer Stella van Beers converted a disused grain silo into a two-story micro-home, fit for the pages of a Dr. Seuss adventure.
Plotted all over the Netherlands’ countryside, grain silos are largely going out of use due to a country-wide reduction of livestock, leading to lower demand for grain. Converting the disused silos into a functional and quirky place of respite, Stella van Beers renovated the cylindrical unit into a micro home.
Zakharevich’s house tells the story of his attachment to Provincetown.
“It’s easier to make something with three two-by-fours and a piece of plywood,” Zakharevich says. Instead, he has taken the hard road, scouring dumpsters, construction sites, and beaches for used wood and then doing the tedious work of removing nails, sanding, and cleaning it before finding just the right use for it.
Source: Board by Board, the Detritus of Old Provincetown Becomes a Home – The Provincetown Independent
Sarah Roseman
Roseman collected the materials from house renovation and demolition sites found around Eindhoven in The Netherlands. From there, she repurposed the materials to take on new forms.
Source: Discarded Materials Become Molten Memories: A Collaged Rug Installation
The satellite dish in action on a sunny day.
Armenian scientists Gregor Mnatsakanyan and Vahan Hamazaspyan originally created the satellite dishes with dreams of distributing them around the country. Hamazaspyan, a pioneer in the study of solar energy use, began developing the first prototypes in the 1980s, after the devastating Spitak earthquake. Satellite solar ovens, he hoped, would feed his countrymen affordably during hard times
Source: At This Armenian Restaurant, the Ovens Are Satellite Dishes – Gastro Obscura
A team of American and Canadian researchers have developed a battery that could be used in cars and power tools using hemp bast fiber – the inner bark of the plant that usually ends up in landfill.
Source: Hemp Batteries Last 8X Longer than Lithium, Outperforming Graphene for 1000th of the Cost
CREDIT: EMILY GREEN; SQFT NASHVILLE
“We have used materials in every room, but the main area seems to be the kitchen,” she says, noting walnut as a popular choice for kitchen island tops. “As this is the main room people always seem to congregate in, reclaimed materials serve as conversation starters.”
Stone on the 7,000-square-foot house came from an early 1800s barn in upstate Pennsylvania. The arches in the porte-cochère and entrance are an homage to the house where Maggie Polisano grew up in Florida.
ALEJANDRO A. ALVAREZ / Staff Photographer
“The brick in the mudroom is from a demo in South Philly, the Belgian block is from a demo under the Ben Franklin Bridge, the large ceiling beams are from a barn in upstate N.Y., and the supports for the glass shelves behind the bar are bucket hooks from our horse stables.”
Source: Philly area farmhouse built out of reclaimed stone, wood, bricks
(Image credit: Leanne Ford)
This minimal reimagining of the farmhouse kitchen celebrates exposed trusses and beams, abundant wood, soaring ceilings and reclaimed materials.
[Photo: courtesy Lanoba Design]
But in a world where Americans throw out more than 12 million tons of furniture per year, it has also championed circular design by breathing new life in Danish castoffs, carving itself a cozy (dare I say hygge) niche in an oversaturated furniture market.
Source: Danes don’t want their vintage furniture. This company has upcycled 10
1 Hotel Toronto, by Rockwell Group
Intrinsic in the mission of all three designers is the desire to prove that sustainable interior design methods are just as useful and effective as environmentally unfriendly counterparts. “When you’re working with waste it can obviously come with negative connotations,” El Baz says. “But through good design and good material research, we’re trying to show that there really isn’t an aesthetic difference in the outcome.”
Source: How interior designers are fighting waste – Design Week
A simple form with a steeply pitched roof and some quirky detailing makes this house stand out in its suburban setting. Image: Camille Khouri
The owner also found “these beautiful old rimu doors, which add to the industrial aesthetic inside. The main front door has stained glass panels. We were trying to balance the use of reclaimed materials with the thermal performance of the building, so these internal doors were an easy addition.”
Gerry Theodorakis stands at the main entrance to the castle, where a Georgian-style columned portico will soon be built. Photo: Leah Szanto
Gerry likes to use reclaimed materials wherever possible and has sourced many stunning additions to both the structure of the residence and the décor contained within, including tiles embedded with fossils, French period-style lighting and solid handcrafted antique timber furniture, most of which is very ornate. “I detest waste and always use as many recycled materials as I possibly can,” he said.
The approved plans for the block include the development of 62 dwelling units, configured as 31 duplexes rising up to 35 feet in height, with 28 two-bedrooms, 34 three-bedrooms, a total of 62 off-street parking spaces and a 0.38-acre public park/community garden/open space on the southwest corner of the block, with two rebuilt greenhouses and a new “boiler house” shed, leveraging reclaimed materials from the existing structures “as feasible.”
Bodecker Foundation, Portland, Oregon
“The warehouses were cut into and modified, while retaining the memory of their historic boundaries,” Bodecker said. “Peeling back the roof of one and slicing the other, the warehouses were remixed and fused together with a new central core building.”
Source: Art foundation in Oregon is a green space for creating
GjG House, Belgium, by BLAF Architecten
Belgian office BLAF Architecten built GjG House in the city of Ghent entirely out of reclaimed bricks. The building has an irregular shape that is reflected in its curvaceous interior spaces.
Source: Ten homes where exposed brickwork creates textured interiors
Created from recycled MO barn tin, expect a varied look including but not limited to nail holes and some rust. Each piece made with recycled corrugated barn tin from actual barns so will have years of patina on them.
Source: Corrugated Metal Snowflakes Holiday Decor Christmas | Etsy
The D: Audio Solo. Our small Bluetooth speaker with a big sound. And unexpected performance for its size. Hear music as it was recorded, with true-to-source response. Own a slice of history, and a connection to a city on the rise!
Source: Detroit Audio Lab | Reclaimed wooden speakers & amplifiers | Detroit Audio Lab
Arup rebuilt 1 Triton Square in London using retained materials and saved 19,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent.
The aim of the Super Circular Department Store project was to reimagine waste materials as a valuable local resource by exploring how department stores could create marketable stock from their own refuse.
Source: GoodWaste repurposes Selfridges scrap materials to create homeware line
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As Becky explains, much of the kitchen was designed around the overhead cabinets, which were purchased for cheap from a Habitat for Humanity ReStore.
The way we build roads is not sustainable.
The building’s facades are made using timber offcuts and approximately 700 windows donated by the community. The fixtures were measured, repaired and assigned a position using computer software, creating a seemingly random yet precise patchwork effect.
Source: Kamikatsu Zero Waste Center is built using waste materials
