Nike’s Newest Concept Store in Shanghai Built with 100% Trash

Miniwiz Sustainable Development Ltd., a Taiwanese architectural firm, completed a building in Shanghai, China, at the end of July, built with 100% trash. The building, Nike’s newest concept store, used 5,500 soda cans, 2,000 PET water bottles and 50,000 old CDs and DVDs, the company says.

The suspension ceiling system of the Nike X158 Hyper Nature was designed to adapt to different exhibitions and retail programs over time: almost everything is adjustable, freeing the floor plan for future installation and lighting conditions. All materials used are urban mined 100% recycled from consumer lifestyle trash. No glue, all single material assembled mechanically ensures that all materials can be 100% re-recycled seperately.

One thousand translucent origami RiceFOLD ceiling panels are made from 50,000 recycled DVDs from greater China, reinforced with Rice Husk SiO2 (natural organic mechanical strengthening additive). The 2,000 yards of tension cables are made from 2,000 post-consumer recycled water bottles from greater China, also reinforced with Rice Husk SiO2. The 1,000 connection joints are made from 5,278 aluminum cans from greater China.

In 2010, Miniwiz completed what some say is the largest building in the world built largely out of plastic bottles — approximately 1.5 million of them. The EcoARK weighs 50% less than a conventional building, yet is strong enough to withstand the forces of nature, including fire, the company says.

While much of Miniwiz’s work has been in Taiwan, managers say they plan to expand and find partners in the US and China, writes Plastics News.

Miniwiz’s products include PolliBricks, a wall system made from 100% recycled PET, and Natrilon, a fiber made with 100% recycled PET bottles and enhanced with silicon dioxide from rice husks. The company is now working on the headquarters and factory for an electronic waste recycling company in Taiwan built with electronic waste.

Taiwan recycles an significant amount of its PET bottles — more than 90%, compared with just 29% in the US and 52% in Europe, according to Miniwiz (via Waste & Recycling News).

Though Europe lags Taiwan in recycling PET bottles, Coca-Cola Enterprises and ECO Plastics are working to change that. The partners joined to create what they say is the world’s largest plastics reprocessing facility, Continuum Recycling. Continuum says it has processed 500 million bottles since opening in May 2012.