December 12, 2020
Upcycled Face Mask Seats: By South Korean Design Student, Kim Ha-neul
Kim, a student at Kaywon University of Art and Design in Uiwang city, south of Seoul, set up a donation box that collected 10,000 used masks and received more than a tonne of defective ones from a factory since June 2020.
To lessen the risk of coronavirus transmission, Kim keeps them in storage for at least four days. Then, removing elastic bands and wires, he wields a heat gun over the masks in a mold, melting them down at temperatures over 300 degrees Celsius (570 degrees Fahrenheit). The result? Three-legged stools 45cm (18 inches) recycled from white, pink, blue, and black masks, which Kim displayed in his graduation exhibition.
How many disposable masks does it take to make a stool?
(Reuters) – Kim Ha-neul knows it takes 1,500. Bothered by the waste caused by disposable face masks, many of which are made of polypropylene, the South Korean furniture design student has come up with an eco-friendly solution, melting them to make stools he calls “Stack and Stack.” “Plastic is recyclable, so why don’t we recycle face masks, which are made of plastic?” the 23-year-old said.
All Images from Reuters
An Interview with Kim Ha-Neul
Kim Ha-Neul used a wielding a heat gun, to melt the masks down into molds at temperatures of 300°C. It takes about 1,500 masks to create one stool. It started out as a graduation project, but there are now plans to scale up the work.
