Thanks to a Fresnel lens, this project promises to create useful objects from garbage
Imagine a large and powerful lens that can concentrate sunlight which heats and melts a mixture of crushed plastic waste. What would such a device do? Simple: create new and useful objects starting from waste. This is, after all, the objective of adopting measures and proposals that increasingly utilize circularity methods and therefore promote respect for the environment.
And it is precisely with these concepts in mind that sUNwaste was born, the project was conceived and realized in Trieste by seven members of the Scientific FabLab of ICTP, a laboratory that is part of the International Center for Theoretical Physics “Abdus Salam” in Trieste, the Friuli regional capital.
A Fresnel lens, an object that allows light to be collected or enlarged, is automatically oriented so that it is able to heat and then melt a mixture of crushed plastic waste. This special “oven” gives new life to waste, thereby, allowing for the reuse of plastic waste that avoids leaving dangerous pollutants in the environment.
The makers from Trieste will present various objects obtained with this innovative recycling system at the Maker Faire Rome – the European Edition 2019, the world-famous innovative technology fair that will take place from 18 to 20 October at Fiera di Roma.