material recycling system ︎
casting and molding ︎
casting and molding ︎
Ripple
A series of dinnerware and decorative bowl set created from post-consumer soda-lime glass waste. Through collection, sanitization, material breakdown, fusing and slumping, bottle glass waste is regenerated into new functional objects that can be recycled again just like a beer bottle at the end of its lifecycle.


RAW MATERIAL PREPERATION
COLLECTION & SANITIZATION
Glass waste is collected from sources like resturant and bars who are not working with recyclers and discard their bottles with the landfill.

DIY STEEL GLASS CRUSHER
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CRUSHING INTO SHARDS
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SHIFT & SANITIZE
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MOLD MAKING
3D MOCKUP & PROPOSAL
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LASERCUT JIG
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TURNING W/ JIG
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CLAY POSITIVE
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︎︎︎ Slip cast molds were made using the clay positive method above, the slip cast molds were used to batch produce stoneware glass slump molds. ︎︎︎
FUSING PLATE
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TOP: SLIP CAST MOLD
BOTTOM: STONEWARE END PRODUCT

TOP: SLIP CAST MOLD
BOTTOM: STONEWARE END PRODUCT
SLUMP MOLD 1
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SLUMP MOLD 2
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FUSING SHARDS
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FUSED FLAT PLATE
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GLASS SLUMP
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END PRODUCT
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THE CHALLENGE
Different types of glass fuses and slumps in different temperture and require a meticulous firing schedule with specification in tempeture, tempeture changing speed, and hold time in relation to velocity of slumping.
Having no available information on firing commercial recycled soda lime glass, I had to estimate based on relative information and reaching out to a dozen of experienced glass workers across the US. With extensive investigation and a little bit of luck, I was able to produce successful products within 2 experiments.
