Your browser doesn’t support HTML5
In Taiwan, Turning Trash into Sunglasses
A workshop in Taipei, Taiwan, is giving new life to bottle caps, food packaging, old toys, and other kinds of plastic waste.
The zero-waste workshop known as Trash Kitchen gives people hands-on experience in the recycling process.
People take plastic waste, then soften and shape it into a pair of sunglasses within two hours.
Arthur Huang started the company that holds the workshop. He spoke to Reuters news agency. He said: "What we are trying to show in the Trash Kitchen is to let you see, feel, touch within minutes how this process can actually work without secondary pollution, and you can actually turn it into something of value directly in front of you."
Sunglasses made from plastic waste are displayed at Trash Kitchen in Taipei, Taiwan August 19, 2024. (REUTERS/Ann Wang)
Huang is the founder of Miniwiz. The company recycles waste material into goods that people want to buy. Miniwiz also produces tiles, bricks, hangers and other daily necessities from plastic and organic waste.
Huang said the company uses a machine it developed in 2017 called a "miniTrashpresso." The machine processes the waste material for a new use.
Kora Hsieh is editor-in-chief for fashion magazine Harper's Bazaar Taiwan. Hsieh said the project making sunglasses is a good way to bring attention to sustainable fashion.
"I think environmental protection and fashion still have a long way to go. As for consumers, it is important for them to get first-hand experience, so a workshop like this is very helpful," she said.
Arthur Huang, founder of Miniwiz, the company that runs Trash Kitchen, holds a jar of plastic waste that will be turned into frames of sunglasses at his workshop in Taipei, Taiwan, August 19, 2024. (REUTERS/Ann Wang)
People taking part in the workshop said it made them think twice about producing trash and made them pay more attention to reusable goods.
"I have two children. I need to think about their future," said business owner Debbie Wu.
"If you throw away trash without thinking, you kick the problem down the road. So, if everyone can do their best, recycle and use less plastic, that will make a big difference," Wu said.
Data from the Ministry of Environment estimates that Taiwan produced a record 11.6 million metric tons of waste in 2023. More than 6 million tons of that waste was recyclable.
I’m John Russell.
Angie Teo and Ann Wang reported on this story for Reuters. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English.
_______________________________________________
Words in This Story
hands-on –adj. something that is experienced by doing rather than thinking or reading
recycle – v. to process something in order to regain material for human use
fashion – n. the industry that produces and advertises clothes and things that people wear
sustainable – adj. of or relating to a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted
consumer – n. one that uses economic goods
kick the problem down the road –idiom to put off dealing with a problem to a later time rather than solving it in the present