Trashpresso, a mobile recycling plant
After inventing the Pollibrick, the hexagonal building bricks made from bottles of mineral water, Taiwanese agency Miniwiz has launched Trashpresso, a mobile recycling plant.
The Taiwanese agency Miniwiz has more than one trick up its sleeve! They invented the Pollibrick, a revolutionary transparent brick made from 100% recycled PET which can be stacked like Lego (http://www.plastic-lemag.com/eco-plastiques/recette-exotique-les-briques-en-plastique), and after creating a store made entirely from recovered materials a few years later (http://www.plastic-lemag.com/en-bref/un-magasin-100-recup) , Miniwiz continues to work towards saving the environment.
Its latest invention is called Trashpresso, a semi-mobile, solar-powered installation that converts trash into tiles. The machine is housed in a 12 m containter that can be moved to remote areas where there are no trash collection services. Once stationed, the system can wash, shred, melt and mould plastic waste and recovered fabrics to convert them into tiles. According to Miniwiz, a tile can be produced with the equivalent of five plastic bottles, and the Trashpresso can produce around 10 m2 of tiles every 40 minutes. The tiles can then be used for indoor and outdoor flooring.
In order to be deployed far from the power grid, the Trashpresso has to be self-sufficient, and the system is entirely solar-powered for this purpose. Even the water used to wash the waste is recycled into the system in order to reduce its ecological footprint. "To date, only plants could offer industrial quality recycling", explained Arthur Huang, co-founder and CEO of Miniwiz. "The Trashpresso overcomes the barriers of distance and energy, demonstrating that recycling can be done anywhere. Not only does it convert waste on the spot, it also serves as an educational tool in isolated communities".
The Trashpresso's first objective involves "cleaning up the glacial region of NianBao Yuze on the Tibetan Plateau which feeds off the Yellow River, the Yangzi Jiang and the Mekong" which is increasingly polluted as a result of growing tourism and non-existent trash collection services. The company will deploy the system in July to showcase its capabilities.
More information
www.miniwiz.com/
