Building On Paper Waste: Newspaper Wood Resets The Paper Lifecycle

Paper Is Recycled by This Dutch Student, Who Turns It Into Logs

Finding new, sustainable sources of energy and manufacturing is important, but we also need to find uses for the massive amounts of garbage we've already produced. We can now use our waste to make new items thanks to technological advances and some plain old-fashioned backyard inventions like Carter Zufelt's recycled plastic. The foundation of a greener future is waste.

To do this, we'll need to rethink the conventional wisdom about how long a product's lifecycle should last.

"Newspaper Wood" Reverses the Paper Lifecycle

Instead of being a phase in a bigger process, paper is frequently considered as the final destination for wood. Despite the apparent drawbacks of reducing our natural source of oxygen, we still use wood to make paper, which results in daily waste generation of tons of paper. In actuality, paper makes about 25% of the rubbish we put in our landfills, and we do nothing with this waste. However, with a little creative thinking, we can create a substance that transforms from wood to paper and then instantly back to wood again.

Newspapers are compressed and rolled by a Dutch designer into fire logs, furniture, attractive house accents, and even pendant necklaces.

The very first effort at the method was straightforward: hand-gluing individual sheets of paper together. The process got more complex over time, producing a material that could be sandpapered and even bent to resemble real wood.

A piece of this Newspaper Wood may be cut off to show the several layers of scrap newspaper that went into producing this brand-new construction material. The layers of Newspaper Wood give the product a look that is reminiscent of actual wood, much like the growth rings found inside of true wood.

Technique for Recycling Paper Waste Invented by Dutch Designer Mieke Meijer

The more methods we may use our paper trash, the better, even while recycling old paper into new paper strives to make a difference in managing our waste creation.

Newspaper Wood, created by Dutch designer Mieke Meijer, was inspired by the idea of upcycling discarded paper back into wood rather of following the conventional life cycle of paper.

In 2003, Mieke developed the concept while working on a one-off project at the Design Academy Eindhoven. The method was inactive for 4 years until a Dutch interior design company fell in love with Meijer's ideas and used it as the foundation for upcoming product designs.

Design company Vij5 adopted Meijer's method and ran with it.

The Dutch design label Vij5 has made it their mission to train up-and-coming designers as they develop their skills, create new goods, and promote their works. They instantly transformed the concept that would have been lost into a highly marketable new product.

The label encouraged Dutch designers to experiment with the Newspaper Wood material at Milan Design Week, and the outcome is some of the most striking and environmentally conscientious works of art accessible. Impressive without a doubt, and unique in each case. Even more adaptable than Mieke could have anticipated, Newspaper Wood may be.