Turning waste into raw materials for various products with Taiwan’s new technology.
The problem of garbage in our world continues to exist. Many entrepreneurs or government agencies around the world have come up with innovations and found ways to create added value for this garbage. One of them is Miniwiz, a startup from Taiwan that takes the garbage that everyone throws away and turns it into raw materials to produce various things again.
A startup from Taipei, Taiwan, recognizes the environmental problems caused by plastic waste and wants to help solve these problems. They are using water bottle caps, packaging, old toys and other plastics to make new use of them again with a technology called “miniTrashpresso”, a processing machine that can convert plastic waste back into raw materials to produce various items within 5 minutes.
The company also organizes zero-waste workshops known as “Trash Kitchen.” The event allows people to experience the actual recycling process and encourages people to be more interested in sorting and processing waste. On September 4, 2024, the company organized a workshop for those interested in making sunglasses from plastic waste. The raw materials used were plastic sheets that had been processed by the “miniTrashpresso” machine.
Miniwiz produces products that anyone can buy and use in their daily lives, such as hangers, tiles and bricks. Miniwiz was founded by Arthur Huang. Kora Hsieh, editor of fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar Taiwan, said that making sunglasses from plastic waste is a good way to draw attention to sustainable fashion. He also said, “I think environmental protection and fashion have a long way to go for consumers. Having hands-on experience. For consumers, having hands-on experience is important. So, organizing a workshop like this is very useful.” The workshop participants said that they had to rethink their waste production and that organizing this event made them interested in reusable products.
“I have two kids, I have to think about their future,” said Debbie Wu, a business owner. “If you just throw the trash out, you’re throwing the problem in the face. So if everyone can do their best, recycle, and use less plastic, it’s going to make a huge difference.” Both the company and the workshops are part of Taiwan’s efforts to recycle plastics. The country’s Ministry of the Environment estimates that Taiwan produced a record 11.6 million metric tons of trash per year in 2023, and 6 million tons of that trash could be recycled.
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