COULD YOUR NEXT PIZZA BE USED TO MAKE GLASS?

 

benedikt peirotén of studio peipei is on a mission to make glass that’s better for the environment. as the designer says, glass is often seen as sustainable because it can be recycled endlessly. however, in a 2020 study, researchers from the university of southampton in the UK found that glass bottles are in fact worse for the environment than plastic when considered across their entire lifecycle.

 

this project, called ‘from the ashes’, explores using renewable raw materials instead of soda (sodium carbonate) and (limestone) calcium carbonate — the other two main components of glass in addition to sand. among the proposed materials are wood ash from pizzerias and shells from seafood restaurants, two waste products available in large quantities that are typically thrown away. 

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images courtesy of studio peipei

 

 

the problem with glass

 

as well as the growing scarcity of sand, the availability of soda and limestone is changing dramatically due to climate change and human production methods.

 

the soda is obtained from salt lakes then it’s processed according to the solvay procedure, which requires a lot of water and energy as well as quicklime: rare limestone heated to around 1000°C. energy consumption is completely overlooked in the case of glass, says studio peipei. on top of that, many natural salt lakes are shrinking rapidly due to global warming such as the great salt lake in utah, the US.

 

limestone is also an essential component in glassmaking, however, mining the material causes a myriad of environmental impacts, according to research. 

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researchers say glass is worse for the environment than plastic

 

 

the increasingly scarce quartz sand is irreplaceable as the main component to make glass, but by using infinite materials like the pizza wood ash and seafood shells, studio peipei hopes this project can help take glass into the future by focusing on waste. the new glass can even be ground to sand again, making it a closed-loop material cycle.

 

‘from the ashes’ explores using renewable raw materials in place of sodium and calcium carbonate

probably the most sustainable glass in the world 1
this new glass utilizes waste materials like wood ash from pizzerias and seafood shells

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‘‍from the ashes’ is a 100% natural glass, free of toxic or limited additives and made for next generations

probably the most sustainable glass in the world 4
studio peipei hopes to take glass into the future by focusing on waste

 

 

project info:

 

name: from the ashes
design: studio peipei

 

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

 

edited by: lynne myers | designboom