‘A building material you can use for another 30 years’

A Taiwanese company is reimagining end-of-life care for more than 1,000 kinds of trash, transforming waste into durable, long-lasting building materials.

Miniwiz believes that “trash equals possibility,” according to its official website. Designers and engineers in the company’s one-of-a-kind TRASHLAB — “dedicated exclusively to unlocking the upcycling potential of this abundant but deeply damaging resource” — have created 1,200 sustainable building materials that keep waste out of overcrowded landfills.

“We take leftover construction waste, leftover fiber waste, leftover plastic or packaging waste, and turn that into a building material you can use for another 30 years,” CEO Arthur Huang told Time Magazine, adding that Miniwiz reduced pollution during manufacturing processes and transportation with “very dumb logic”: using the carbon “you’ve already produced.”

This concept is simple, yet it is gaining steam and poised to revolutionize the building and construction sector — which produces 37% of global planet-warming pollution, making it the most polluting industry, according to the UN Environment Programme.

In addition to reducing pollution associated with more intense extreme weather, building with upcycled materials lowers production costs, which could ultimately cut business expenses, housing prices, and provide other economically beneficial ripple effects.

Miniwiz’s high-performance building materials are derived from insect shells, water bottles, rice husks, oyster shells, and more, according to Time. Perhaps one of its most impressive accomplishments is the earthquake- and fire-resistant EcoARK — a nine-story exposition structure-turned-public museum made with 1.5 million plastic bottles and powered by the sun.

Established in 2005, the company also provided advanced wall fabrics for Hong Kong’s flagship shopping mall AIRSIDE. It was able to reduce carbon pollution by 70% compared to conventional materials, according to an emissions summary obtained by Time.

And while Miniwiz is making waves in construction, other projects demonstrate it is living up to its stated mission of a circular economy, “from the smallest products to full-on infrastructure.” That includes sunglasses made from recycled beach waste and upcycled holiday decorations.

“Our projects span a large scope and seek to engage with the greatest upcycling challenges of our day,” Miniwiz writes on its website. “Our new goal is to turn our consumers into recyclers.”

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