“Mono: Factory” Changes the Life of Waste Material

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Every year, three hundred million ton industrial wastes are taken into garbage disposal plants in Japan. (*) One of the waste service companies, Nakadai, has a disposal site, though, they never keep any “waste.” They are redesigning the way to throw garbage away.

The company president, Mr. Nakadai, realised that waste service company should be regarding environmental issues, and started 3R, reduce wasting, recycle, and reuse.

Nakadai’s solution is to open a new factory for creative design and manufacturing, “Mono: Factory.” They name the waste “Mono” which is a Japanese word meaning material. The project is based on an idea that industrial waste can be material given by society.
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Mono: Factory has three sections, workshops, studio, and material library.

Designing a bow tie from “mono”

Actually, I have attended their workshop to make a bow tie from Mono, such as springs, electronic parts, pieces of plastic, and other industrial waste. At first, I couldn’t imagine how those wastes become a bow tie, however, the finished piece totally blew my mind!
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Mr. Nakadai says cheerfully,

We do not have any rules, recipes or patterns of their creative works, so participants are free to create their own works.

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The studio is open for creators. They can create works with the machines with a little help from the advisers there.
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In the material library, Nakadai archives and sells Mono.
Their project reminds me of a Japanese proverb. “Suteru-kami areba hirou-kami ari,” which means “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”

Changing the approach to manage waste, Nakadai is now a birthplace of the waste material. Are there any “mono” in your garbage box? Why don’t you imagine their new life?

[via Greenz.jp written by Eriko Masumura]
[English Text by Momi Sako]