Repurposed fibreglass resin

Reviving Fiberglass: Cocoon

Reviving Fiberglass: Cocoon is a material research project which resues fibreglass destined for landfill. We witness today a colossal scale of fibreglass resin waste across our land and sea. Nature is unable to digest synthetic resin, yet we have not found a better way to manage such waste or how to recycle it effectively.

In Luxembourg, stacks of fibreglass resin cylinders are waiting to be refurbished. With this quantity, many here find themselves decommissioned.

When the fibreglass resin waste reaches a dismantling centre, it is mechanically crushed and ground down before heading to landfill. The process is brutally simplistic and energy intensive. Incineration releases harmful gases which otherwise need further capturing and processing before releasing into the atmosphere. If the global market demand for fibreglass and production is ever increasing, isn’t it incongruous to render it as waste?

Working with these themes and waste fibreglass, the designer has created a light piece that captures the visual and tactile quality of woven fibreglass.

Making process

Reviving Fiberglass: Cocoon works with a local company’s fibreglass resin waste, crafting and treating these materials individually. The project wants to offer these robust materials a second life while reducing waste which goes into landfills and the air pollution generated from incineration.

Entirely designed, tested, crafted and built in Luxembourg, this material research project explores the transience and mobility of synthetic waste and its ubiquitous presence in the urban context.

Text submitted by the maker and edited by the Future Materials Bank. For information about reproducing (a part of) this text, please contact the maker.