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New life of food waste
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Now there are a huge number of bioprinters (3D), but only a few are able to produce really useful things. Italian designer Marina Kessolini came up with the idea of using food garbage for three-dimensional printing. To create such material she was pushed by a common mandarin peel. Marina noticed that the tangerine peel is strong and mixed several kinds of food debris that was most often thrown away (bean pods, coffee remnants, peel of tomatoes, lemon, oranges, shell from nuts) and connected all the components with 3D- printing. For binding Marina used a product based on potato starch. As a result, the material that the designer named AgriDast, which can become an alternative replacement for plastic, for example, in the manufacture of packaging material or pots for plants. In addition, the material can be used to print samples.
As a rule, such technologies are used to create prototype models or objects that are necessary only in the first part of the research.
According to the designer, she does not call to completely abandon the use of plastic, as in some areas it is simply impossible to do, but to create one-time products, AgriDast is quite suitable.
The material created by Marina can reduce the amount of plastic used by several tons. According to some data, after 5 years, a quantity of plastic equal to 1.4 million barrels of oil can be used for bioprinters.
But reducing the amount of plastic is not the only possible solution. For printing on 3D-printers can be used any components - from ice cream to cells of the human body.
The use of food debris for 3D printing will help maximize the use of food, because about 40% of all products, in the end, are discarded.
At present, people are encouraged to use the products they bought before they deteriorate, which will save energy.
The method of making a new material proposed by Marina will help to prevent food products from being found on the trash, and the used product can be sent to compost for fertilizer.
As a result, it turns out that the recycled waste will fall into the ground as biologically nutritious substances, but up to this point they can still serve human use, for example, become a packing or a pot, and this will reduce the amount of used plastic and reduce the cost of its disposal.
In modern conditions, most of the food wastes fall into the dump, but thanks to the idea of Marina Kessolini, the importance of food can be restored.
Despite the fact that the Italian designer has developed the material within the framework of the student project, she intends to continue work in this direction.
According to her, her idea will not remain just a creative plan designed to draw attention to existing problems. She intends to further promote her product with other experts in this field.
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