Chinese studio Bentu has recently released the sleek X10 wireless chargers made of recycled materials. The colorful mixture of reclaimed cement waste and quartz stone aggregate leftovers make possible for the digital device to go back into the environment and not become just another piece in the landfill.
Their material research brought studio Bentu to focus on terrazzo, the composite material able to offer the solution for stone industry to recycle the leftover material.
Around 70 per cent of the ceramic objects used globally comes from Chaozhou. Relying on the low-cost of manufacture and the large amount of traditional stone industries, terrazzo once achieved a rapid development and became a subdivision industry in China.
The increasing global demand for ceramic pieces, has even boosted the number for industries working in the area causing a considerable increase of the waste produced.
X10 terrazzo wireless charger uses concrete mixed with recycled ceramic waste, demolition leftover concrete, quartz stone and other crushed stone aggregates as materials. With environmentally friendly materials from recycle process and nature environment, it tries to break through material limitations of the electronic products, especially the long-time relies on plastics and other chemical materials.
The material mix is cast into integrated moulds and left to set. The use of young and bright colors update the classical appearance of the terrazzo used for the chargers, which become an exquisite decorative object for modern homes when not used for charging.
The texture randomness makes each X10 unique, while the natural beauty of quartz, marble and other stone aggregates also infuses the warmth and sensibility of nature into the rational, controlled digital age.
In daily use, X10 wireless charger frees people from messy charging cables and improves the experience of electronic products. Once expired, it’s convenient to recover the printed circuit board inside by crushing the terrazzo case.
According to the studio, compared to the products with non-degradable chemical materials and the severely increasing energy crisis and environmental pollution triggered by them, X10 is harmless and pollution-free as concrete and stones can be weathered naturally in the environment. Studio Bentu‘s idea was to create an object that came from nature, and will eventually return to it.
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Creative waste-based design will be increasingly important in the next years: if you are interested in learning about what is going on in the ‘green’ design scene, and you haven’t seen it yet, please check out our extensive green Trend Report REGENERATION here.
