University of Edinburgh graduate Wael Seaiby has designed a collection of vessels to tackle problem of the one million plastic bags used globally every minute, 93{ff546b69e23b1524d799f96c6ba7a638e1f677053b0a2a1568b05315fd5f8fc7} of which end up in landfill.
The bowls and vases are made in heated moulds from a fine plastic powder Wael makes by heating carrier bags in pressurised steel mould to form a solid sheet of plastic and then grinding this material down using a standard disc sander. He collects used bags from supermarkets and sorts them by colour before processing them to create the desired aesthetic.
“Recycled plastic is often dismissed as cheap or tasteless, especially aesthetically,” said the designer. “Plag aims to challenge that notion by delivering a line of hand-worked vessels that are reminiscent of glass or ceramic craftsmanship.” Initial feedback from exhibiting the products indicates that he has been successful in creating that connection. “Almost everyone who has interacted with them has expected them to either feel completely different to the touch or to be much heavier than they actually are – people tend to assume that they are ceramic products. It gives me quite a kick when I tell them that they are in fact made from supermarket plastic bags.”
The project came about as the result of a university brief to explore the properties of a given material. “Not a lot of pressure was put on what the final product looked like as long as it showcased the material properties both aesthetically and functionally,” Wael told coadg. “Vessels seemed to be a very good method of presenting Plag, as they were vehicles that helped the material take centre stage.”
Wael said he enjoyed the challenge of starting with a material in mind, and trying to make the most out of it, especially as his chosen material is usually considered a waste product. “We’re headed towards landfill saturation, and researchers are speculating that everything currently in landfill that is not degradable will be dug up in the very near future for re-use,” he said. “I was fascinated by that idea.”
Plag was was awarded the Innovation Initiative Grant and the Enterprise Initiative Grant from the University of Edinburgh in 2014, chosen as part of the New Design Britain showcase at May Design Series earlier this year, selected as one of the Design Council’s Ones to Watch and appeared as part of Sustain RCA during the London Design Festival in September. His work can be seen at Desso’s Best in Class, curated by confessions of a design geek editor Katie Treggiden, until 16 November 2015.
Further reading for the especially geeky:
- interview :: made by michael
- interview :: nordvink
- interview :: james molkenthin
- interview :: richard hardy
