[Making and Materials]
Reclaimed Assets: from fibrous waste to sustainable design material
Nataša Perković [MA Product Design, Academy of Fine Arts, University of Sarajevo]

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How can the fibre left over from industrial palm oil processing be transformed from environmental nuisance into a design material?

How can the new material be endowed with distinctive material qualities to allow it to be used for a diverse range of products and manufacturing methods?

Waste fiber from industrial palm oil processing is a major cellulose fibre byproduct in Southeast Asia but its potential as a design material has yet to be explored. The project aimed to make something precious out of nothing. The waste fibre’s physico-chemical properties were studied alongside developments in bio-based materials science to enable this discarded material to gain high-end aesthetic and functional value. High-tech and low-tech ways of making were simultaneously explored to allow the greatest latitude for design applications. Both can be used with existing technology in radically different manufacturng contexts.

The high-tech approach involved blending oil palm fiber micro powder with PLA (polylactic acid) to create a new composite material suitable for use as 3D printer filament or in injection moulding. The oil palm reinforces and strengthens the PLA and the new polymer is biodegradable in communal compost and can be recycled.

The low-tech approach involved experimentation with traditional paper-making techniques and compression moulding to create three-dimensional household items such as bowls, plates and lamps. The fiber was blended initially with PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) to make sheets of varying thicknesses using flat mesh screens. The new material was formed three-dimensionally at the beginning of the paper-making stage, by straining the fiber through a concave sieve and the objects were then air-dried. Further trials showed that the products could be made using only oil palm fiber and Japanese “denpun nori” rice paste. Renewably sourced coatings like “carnauba” palm tree wax and“kakishibu” persimmon juice varnish have been used to seal the surface of the products.

This viable way of using oil palm fiber waste is transferable to a developing country context where the same principle can be applied to other cellulose waste fibre such as wood or bamboo in a craft or industry context. The final products were made in a low-tech way, using basic kitchen equipment and little energy but the process required a high level of artisanal skill.

KIT Team
Professor Julia Cassim, KYOTO Design Lab
Emeritus Professor Teruo Kimura
Associate Professor Yoko Okahisa, Department of Bio-Based Materials
Professor Haruhiro Ino + Professor Kazushi Yamada, Centre for Advanced Fibro-Science
Tomohiro Inoue, KYOTO Design Lab Digital Factory
Shin Yamashita, KYOTO Design Lab Wood Factory
Yoshinori Shiki
Katsumi Kawabata

Acknowledgements
Dr. Kazunari Masutani, Neo Materia
Dr. Sommai Pivsa-Art + Dr. Kiyoaki Ishimoto + Dr. Nichinan Pansroy, Rajamangala University of Technology, Thailand
S-Lab

Nataša Perković (MA, Sarajevo) Product Design
Nataša Perković is a product designer from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Senior Lecturer in Product Design at the Academy of Fine Arts Sarajevo. Her aim is to bring aesthetics and craftsmanship together with innovation and entrepreneurship. Nataša is in ongoing collaboration with the re-emerging wood and furniture industry in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Her most recent project, Elle, a collection of solid wood dining room furniture, received the Grand Prix Collegium Artisticum for the best product design in Bosnia and Herzegovina 2017. The German Design Council awarded the collection two Iconic Interior Innovation awards at Imm Cologne 2017 and it was given a Special Mention in the German Design Awards 2018.