Sawdust as alternative plastic

Long description

Imagine that you could turn wood waste, nut shells and other residues composed of cellulose into valuable products that could replace plastics on several uses in a distributed manner. Yearly in Chile there are 2.5 millions cubic meters of sawdust produced by industrial and local activities. Similar quantities are wasted in the agricultural sector in the form of almond- and nut-shells. We are transforming the way wood workers deal with saw dust and aim for the potential to redefine our relation with material resources.

Our team has developed an starch based adhesive formulation that allows for the agglomeration of the aforementioned materials. The formulation can be used at moderate temperatures to produce a dough-like paste that can be hand shaped, molded or extruded at will making possible to use these other wise waste material as useful products like packaging or even furniture.The materials achieved in this way have self-adhesive properties allowing for the design and assemblage of complex geometries using low tech solutions.

Our design team has developed fabrication methods that could be assimilated in small communities for the recovery of the wasted materials.

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