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Name of the submitted project or idea (in English or both English and your language)
Wastematter
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URL of a video introducing the work（under 5 minutes）
https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/880481636/privacy
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Detailed explanation of the submitted project or idea (in English or both English and your language)
«Wastematter» is a research for innovative and ecological material centered around the revaluation of
drafts of beer breweries and various nutshells. Combined with an organic binder; the resulting material,
with properties similar to chipboard is used for the development of design furnitures and interior design.
The draft is the malted residue, which remains in the tank after the initial brewing of the beer and
the racking of the must. Often seen as waste, it is actually rich in protein and fiber, which largely justifies
talking about it as a «co-product» of the brewing process. Wastematter, uses draft of which all proteins
have been extracted beforehand, only using the remaining fibers that cannot be used for food anymore.
Nutshells come from various local mills as a way to upcycle their waste produced per tons every
week.«Wastematter» rehabilitates those waste in a whole new field: design and furniture.
Social & Local Aspects:
- Local valuation: by focusing the research on a specific place, the city of Lausanne, its process envisages
a circular operation of recycling of waste, done in a collaborative manner and at a local level. It encompasses
various local actors at all level of the process, from its implementation to the final use of the
products designed
Environmental Aspects:
- Natural ressources valuation: no requirement of an addition of toxic or chemical elements to maintain the
material’s cohesion.
Economical Aspects:
- By optimizing the flow management of local breweries and mills in regards to their waste, it is the whole
metabolism of a location that «Wastematter» improves. An economical valuation of food by-products reimplemented
into a marketing channel.
Wastematter has been exhibited at: Milan Design Week 2022, Dutch Design Week 2022, Vienna Design Week 2023, ADI Design Museum Milan, 2023, Geneva Design Days 2023.
It has been featured in Press & TV: Die Presse. Vienna, Austria. September 2023; Raum und Wohnen. April – May 2023; Frame Magazine. Issue 149. Nov 2022-Jan 2023; Espaces Contemporains Magazine. September – October 2022; « 10 vor 10 » Sendung. SRF-Themenschwerpunkt: «Wie wir wohnen»; swissinfo. Les jeunes designers suisses à Milan pendant une semaine -
How does your work address the 3 P’s (for Planet, for People, for Profit) for Sustainability?
Relevance:
1. Social & Local Aspects:
- Local valuation: by focusing the research on a specific place, the city of Lausanne, its process envisages
a circular operation of recycling of waste, done in a collaborative manner and at a local level. It encompasses
various local actors at all level of the process, from its implementation to the final use of the
products designed
2. Environmental Aspects:
- Natural ressources valuation: no requirement of an addition of toxic or chemical elements to maintain the
material’s cohesion.
- Recycling: The resulting material is long-lasting, with a strength similar to chipboards. It is not intended for one-time uses but to last over time. Nevertheless, if it needs to be recycled it can be reduced into chips or powder
and be used again to create new boards with the same properties.
3. Economical Aspects:
- By optimizing the flow management of local breweries and mills in regards to their waste, it is the whole
metabolism of a location that «Wastematter» improves. An economical valuation of food by-products reimplemented into a marketing channel.
Innovation:
- «Wastematter» is a project at the intersection between design and ecology that questions our way of
making by challenging the properties of natural resources.
- «Wastematter» makes a local circular economy tangible, a «closed» production circle, reinventing the
relationship between what we produce and consume. It puts design at the center of a questioning of sustainability
and local impact.
- «Wastematter» focuses in the value of the concept, not only with an outcome but within the complete
creative process.
- «Wastematter» carefully analyzes the social, economic and ecological impact that its approach generates
over the long term. -
Where (country, region, etc.) have you primarily carried out your project?
Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland
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What is the timeline your project has taken place over?
since 2021
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Keywords
#Foodwaste #sustainability #zerowaste #circulareconomy
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If you have a website for your submitted project or idea, please provide the URL
https://wastematter.ch/ http://www.noemi-niederhauser.ch/wastematter/
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If you have a social media account for your submitted project or idea, please provide the URL
https://www.instagram.com/waste_matter/
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Special Prize Question 1: Is there a mechanism in place to inherit culture and industry as assets for people living in that area 100 or even 1000 years from now?
To rethink what is called waste, especially when talking about food waste and to understand that "waste" is just a state of mind as nothing should have such name anymore. Nothing is waste, everything can be re-used in order to produce and consume less. It has an impact on environment as well as on people to change this state of mind. I would say that I am not producing a new mechanism but a "new mechanism for thinking" and a new philosophy for use.
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Special Prize Question 2: What is the positive impact on biodiversity? Is the project creating a cycle not just from a human-centered perspective but for the entire ecosystem?
The material wastematter uses only natural ressources: no requirement of an addition of toxic or chemical elements to maintain the material’s cohesion. Hence if not used anymore it can go back to earth without any harm to the environment.
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Special Prize Question 3: Are you enabling new forms of collaboration with others? New forms of collaboration might include cross-industry cooperation, co-creation with consumers, or role transformations within the supply chain.
The project wastematter is made in collaboration with various partners from the food industry: beer breweries, nutmills that produce oil for cooking. Those provide wastematter with their unused waste. Hence, Wastematter is a material that is made to develop design element but it is at the same time part of the chain of food production. It crosses-over and collaborate with industries that do usually not work together.
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Wastematter by Noemi Niederhauser Studio
Others
«Wastematter» is a research for innovative material centered around the revaluation of drafts of beer breweries of the city of Lausanne (CH). Combined with an organic binding agent and various nutshells; the resulting material, with properties similar to plywood, is used for the development of design furnitures and interior design.
The draft is the malted residue, which remains in the tank after the initial brewing of the beer
and the racking of the must. Often seen as waste, it is actually rich in fiber, which largely justifies talking about it as a «co-product» of the brewing process. This urban waste is produced per tonne each week by breweries in the city of Lausanne and around the world. As part of a circular operation of recycling food waste; «Wastematter» intends to rehabilitate it in a whole new field: design and furniture.
Beyond its ecological aspect, the resulting material offers a new feeling and texture, which can be transposed to many fields of application. It can become a local sustainable alternative to particle boards and plywood.
The draft is the malted residue, which remains in the tank after the initial brewing of the beer
and the racking of the must. Often seen as waste, it is actually rich in fiber, which largely justifies talking about it as a «co-product» of the brewing process. This urban waste is produced per tonne each week by breweries in the city of Lausanne and around the world. As part of a circular operation of recycling food waste; «Wastematter» intends to rehabilitate it in a whole new field: design and furniture.
Beyond its ecological aspect, the resulting material offers a new feeling and texture, which can be transposed to many fields of application. It can become a local sustainable alternative to particle boards and plywood.
