Shubhi Sachan is a TEDx speaker, design expert and consultant for many companies, and has participated in many pioneering waste recycling projects. Her latest project is to create a waste "material library" in which samples will be stored to inspire future pioneers.

We live in an era of "junk age". The amount of waste we deliberately produces is suffocating us. According to a report by the World Bank, 2.01 billion tons of municipal solid waste are generated globally every year. It is estimated that by 2050, this number will increase to approximately 3.4 billion tons.

Currently, at least 33% of such a large number are not managed in an environmentally safe manner. Depending on the financial situation, an average person generates 0.11 kg to 4.54 kg of waste per day.

The richer people are, the more garbage they produce.

If you travel from Delhi to Gazipur, Mumbai to Badrpur, Bangalore to Mavalipura, or any other large cities nearby, you will see fairly large "small" of 10 to 30 meters or more. "Mound" protrudes from the flat landscape on the side of the road.

A closer look reveals that they are not beautiful green hills, but huge garbage dumps that pile up like mountains every day, causing great harm to the environment and health of citizens.

"What people don't understand is that most of this waste does not need to end up in a landfill. It can be reused and recycled in a very constructive way at low cost. All we need is some imagination and willpower. ," explains Shubhi Sachan, who lives in Noida, a textile designer who is passionate about sustainable development.

This is a place for collectors to collect sample materials from sheds, laboratories, industries, hospitals, shopping malls, markets, homes, agricultural farms, and movie studios.

Unlike the usual library of books, CDs, data, etc., the material library is an exciting center of creativity, imagination and activity, where you can find ways to design and reuse everyday waste.

She said: “There are several such libraries around the world, and they talk about material innovation and archives to change the pattern of makers. But in our library, our goal is to store materials from industrial and agricultural waste, which is not only The problems of industry and farmers are also dangerous signs of the environment."

These materials need to be stored under the eaves and be seen by potential makers, students, and even visionaries, so that they understand the potential of these materials, and at the same time expose everyone to the sheer scale of the problem.

"Usually textile industrial waste is considered textile or plastic industrial waste, because plastics and laymen think these are recyclable materials, which is incorrect," said Sarkan, who is also a TEDx speaker, design expert and consultant for many companies .

Several fabric products she designed are made from plastic waste, using multilayer packaging waste and textile industry manufacturing waste, and are exhibited in an ongoing exhibition at the London Design Museum. The theme of this year's exhibition is "The Era of Waste".

This is an international exhibition open until February 2022, showcasing waste designs made by well-known fashion designers and fashion companies (including Stella McCartney, Alan MacArthur Foundation, Bethany Williams, etc.). The exhibition showcased products made from electronic waste, plastic bottle caps, corncob waste, industrial waste from shoe factories, agave leaves from tequila wineries, and many other beautiful daily necessities and luxury goods. The product. The final product in the exhibition is so artistic that it needs to be emphasized that the basic materials used were once regarded as “waste”.

As the curator of this exhibition, Gemma Curtin said: “We must face the problem of waste. When we get rid of them, we can no longer ignore what happens to them. Rather than treating objects as life-ending things, we can say They can have many lives. This is not only an exhibition, but also a movement. We are all actively participating in our future."

Waste is considered plastic waste only, such as water bottles, boxes, bags, household items, etc. These are of course waste being recycled. But what about wrapping paper or multi-layer color packaging materials for edible commodities such as potato chips, chocolate, biscuits, namkeens, etc.?

Then there is our view on medical waste. For us, only medical syringes, drop bottles, and surgical masks are classified as waste. What we don't realize is that the waste generated by our daily use of drugs, sachets of fruit salts, shampoo bags, mosquito repellents, menstrual pads, condoms and other small bags is too numerous to list.

Explaining further, Sachan added: "There is incredible waste in the textile industry. Not only the leftover fabric, but also countless threads, rubber tubes, needles, copper wires, spindles, etc."

One of the best examples of recycling non-hazardous industrial waste is the Punah project she collaborated with a multinational conglomerate.

Sachan helped design a method to recycle these cotton gloves and convert them into raw materials that can be used for packaging, weaving new fabrics that can be used in clothing design or making ropes that can be used as linings for chairs, tables, etc.

There is also an interesting type of waste that is unknowingly generated during the machining process of the manufacturing unit, and that is metal waste such as copper, brass, and steel. Household waste of these products, such as worn-out containers, are usually sold to our neighbouring Kabadivaras. However, hundreds of thousands of kilograms of industrial waste in the form of small metal pieces and thin strips can be recycled by converting them into new products and reused in the manufacture of other products.

Sachan helped a pharmaceutical company plan another very interesting project called "Cancel Plan". She helped design this project with Mallika Reddy, where they collected waste such as blister packs used in pharmaceutical company packaging. Unconventional materials such as aluminum and plastic are taken out and hand-woven by local weavers in Warangal near Hyderabad to make luxury accessories such as handbags or decorations. They then obtained waste from condom manufacturers, of which nearly 4% to 5% of the condoms were rejected due to damage and were sent to landfills. In the cancellation plan, these are collected, processed and reused, especially as decorations and embroidery designs for the high fashion industry.

In the Sachan Material Library in Noida, people can see and learn how to reuse waste. "We collected a small amount of 1 kg to 5 kg from different industrial units, and sent the small amount to the laboratory to analyze and understand the materials that can be extracted and reused. Then I conceptualized the new design to reuse the product."

Many design, engineering, and architect school students, and even new jewelry and clothing designers who want to practice slow and sustainable technologies, will directly ask Sachan for help and advice. She and like-minded designers around the world are trying to creatively use our daily waste to help save the planet. We need to invest in their products.

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