From PET to Pretty

Over the years, the Hong Kong government promoted the eco-friendly “4R policy” (which include “reduce”, “reuse”, “recycle” and “replace”) and launched a series of recycling policies. Originally, post-consumer plastic waste was recycled outside of Hong Kong, but through governmental initiative the establishment of a local facility, which is expected to start operating in 2021, was made possible.See NL Plastics, Story

W;nk Atelier is not the only design initiative that turns trash into treasure through its PET jewelry pieces. During her residency at Loupe in Hong Kong, Chinese artist Zeyun Chen, for example, created her jewelry collection “Redefine Waste.” She used household waste such as used clothes, old newspapers, courier boxes, plastic bottles and takeaway bags, and combined them with 26 pieces of outdated gold accessories donated by Chow Tai Fook, the local jewelry brand that founded Loupe. As they look so precious and shiny in the photograph it is difficult to see, but the blue key elements in her ear clip and ring are made of PET plastic bottle fragments. Taiwanese artist and designer Alley Huang picks up discarded plastic objects and transforms them into organic shapes framed by metal wires. By blending art and nature, she creates small items that resemble natural objects.