Foreign garbage
“A new method of recycling expanded polystyrene to create beckoning cats that are used to explore the politics around waste, specifically the new China ban. ”
This project uses the beckoning cat or Maneki-neko as a symbol of useless plastic junk, creating a tool for discussion around waste. Historically, the UK has sent 30% of all its waste to China, however as of the 1st March 2018 China enacted a ban on the import of all ‘foreign garbage’. This has created massive problems for countries like the UK who have relied upon China to dispose of their rubbish, subsequently meaning there is no domestic infrastructure to deal with this waste. Exploring this issue, the project focuses on one specific waste stream - expanded polystyrene or EPS. Through experimentation I have developed a new recycling process to create Deflated Polystyrene (DPS).
Expanded polystyrene is solely used for packaging, so the root of our waste problem is in fact an excess of buying rather than an excess of waste. By taking a product that is symbolic of ‘Made in China’ manufacturing and making it with the waste that was intended to be sent to China, we can start to question the status quo around how we treat materials like plastic and start to think about the absurdity of shipping these products around the globe.
Waste is increasingly explored and discussed as a design topic, and this will be key to tackling issues in the future. This project works to propose a new recycling method for EPS and inform the surrounding politics of its role in the economy.