Inspiration through material
Bioblastic detail, Barbara Baffy • © Barbara Baffy
Food waste is no longer just a problem for the culinary world: today, it’s an issue for curious, eco-conscious designers as well. Peels, for example, can be transformed into cloth, leather or plastic for use in lamps or vases. However, these biomaterials also raise questions: What about their life cycle? Their evolution over time? Five creators are exploring this topic and transforming waste into innovations.
Since they are too acidic for composting, citrus fruits are often unrecyclable waste in the restaurant industry. To address this issue, Victoria Lièvre created Repulp, a label that offers a sustainable solution. These food residues are dehydrated, reduced to powder form and then transformed into pellets for a variety of uses. From coffee cups to 3D-printed lamps made from production waste, this biomaterial illustrates a circular approach. Malleable and versatile, it opens the way for creations ranging from small objects to ambitious decorative pieces.
With her project Precious Peels, Loumi Le Floc’h is making aubergine peels into a precious material. From a single element, she is developing an infinite variety of applications, of which stained glass, the experimental project, is a manifesto. Dried and inserted between two plates of glass, the peels reveal surprising textures and unexpected colours, ranging from ochre to pink. In terms of life cycle, while the peels are only lightly treated, their longevity remains high, because they are protected by glass, allowing the young creator to work on a large scale, such as glass doors or partitions.
Adopting a similar approach, Agnès Dosmas Krier uses food peels in weaving but allows time to transform the material. With spontaneous handiwork, she weaves the peels, which when exposed to air, are transformed and dried out, losing their elasticity and colour. An architect by training, she has broadened this experimentation, moving from 2D weaving to 3D in creating a temporary hut. Designed for the “Locus Solus” exhibit at Galerie Amélie Maison d’Art, this hut embodies her reflection on the passage of time. The chequerboard composition changes from day to day.
The question of time is also present in Barbara Baffy’s work. How can we reuse waste while also ensuring it is returned to the soil without pollution? The designer answers this question with the creation of a biodegradable plastic made from food residues. From a simple preparation, she succeeds in modifying their properties without affecting their durability. Exposed to the elements, they decompose in one month’s time. But kept inside, they can last as long as a conventional material. Examples include lampshades created in collaboration with Blum & Wolf. Made from this biocomposite, which is folded and dyed with natural substances, these decorative objects convey the message of sustainability and the ephemeral.
While food waste inspires the creation of objects, it can also be a driver in textiles. The textile designer Youyang Song has decided to revolutionise the industry. Her brand Peelsphere is the result. Using fruit waste and algae, she has developed an alternative to leather that is flexible, waterproof and 100% recyclable. Crushed, mixed with bioagglomerants and transformed into thin sheets, these materials can be adapted to a multitude of uses: clothes, buttons, accessories. Embroidered, woven or laser-cut, Peelshpere embodies a circular, sustainable model, opening up new creative, environmentally engaged perspectives. •
