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A new life for food waste
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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There are a huge number of bioprinters (3D) available today, but only a few are capable of producing truly useful things. Italian designer Marina Kessolini came up with the idea of using food waste for 3D printing. She was inspired to create such a material by ordinary tangerine peel. Marina noticed how strong tangerine peel is, and quickly mixed several types of food waste that are most often thrown away (bean pods, coffee leftovers, tomato peels, lemons, oranges, nut shells) and connected all the components using 3D printing. Marina used a product based on potato starch for binding. The result was a material that the designer called AgriDust, which can become an alternative to plastic, for example, in the manufacture of packaging material or plant pots. In addition, the material can be used to print samples.
Typically, such technologies are used to create prototype models or objects that are only needed in the first part of the research.
According to the designer, she does not call for a complete abandonment of the use of plastic, since in some areas it is simply impossible to do so, but AgriDust is quite suitable for creating disposable products.
The material created by Marina is capable of reducing the amount of plastic used by several tons. According to some data, in 5 years, bioprinters may use the amount of plastic equal to 1.4 million barrels of oil.
But reducing plastic isn't the only solution. Anything from ice cream to human cells can be printed on 3D printers.
Using food waste for 3D printing will help to make the most of food, since about 40% of all food ends up being thrown away.
People are now being encouraged to consume the food they buy before it goes bad, which will help conserve energy.
The method for producing a new material proposed by Marina will help prevent food products from ending up in the trash, and the used product can then be sent to compost to obtain fertilizer.
As a result, the recycled waste will end up in the ground as biological nutrients, but before that moment it can still serve a useful purpose for humans, for example, as packaging or a pot, which will reduce the amount of plastic used and reduce the cost of its disposal.
In today's world, most food waste ends up in landfills, but thanks to Marina Kessolini's idea, food can be restored to its original purpose.
Although the Italian designer developed the material as part of a student project, she intends to continue working in this direction.
According to her, her idea will not remain just a creative idea designed to draw attention to existing problems. She intends to continue promoting her product together with other experts in this field.
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