07-09-2017
Social Design

Dutch Design Daily

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Bottle-up www.bottle-up.org

Bottle-up: No glass to waste – Part II

By 07-09-2017

Tourists form an increasingly important source of income in Zanzibar, but they also cause an increase in the amount of (glass) waste. The African island is not yet sufficiently equipped to process this waste, which means that the glass ultimately finds its way into the natural surroundings. But what if that same tourism could also contribute to the processing of it? The bottle-up foundation is realising this dream, creating new products from glass waste together with Dutch designers and local craftsmen, which are now being sold in hotels on the island.

Trending Terrazzo
Trending Terrazzo is a decorative material made from white cement and glass, in which the beautiful properties of glass are clearly visible and the fragments are given a valuable new purpose. It is perfect for producing sustainable furniture made in Zanzibar. The products are formed using unusual ‘moulds’ found on the island. So a metal wok became the basis for a little table and a piece of corrugated iron served as a mould for a table leg. The furniture will have a place in hotels in Zanzibar in the future, where it can replace imported furniture and support awareness for bottle-up and the recycling and up-cycling of glass.

bottle | brick
bottle | brick is a building block made from glass and cement only. The product is still in its test phase, but the first prototypes prove that it is possible to make strong building blocks from cement, glass fragments and crushed glass. This method reduces the relatively expensive import of sand and gravel to the island. The foundation intends to use the income from the sale of bottle-up products to fund its expansion to large-scale production of the bottle | brick and so contribute to a cleaner island.

bottle-up and the design team
The bottle-up foundation is an initiative of van Elisabeth & Hubert van Doorne and Dutch Design Foundation. The team of designers wholeheartedly dedicated to this up-cycling project consists of:
Sophie Mensen and Oskar Peet – Studio OS & OOS
Klaas Kuiken – Studio Klaas Kuiken
Pim van Baarsen – Super Local

As interest in and demand for the locally made products is steadily increasing, the designers are now also making several products in their own studios in the Netherlands. These products are for sale and part of the proceeds will go back to Zanzibar to help achieve the objectives of bottle-up.