Eco-friendly Tableware with ceramic waste | Fusion - WeRIndia

Normally plastic comes to the mind when anyone talks about recycling. In addition to plastic, there are many other things to consider as well.

Ceramic waste is one among them. These include ceramic utensils, tiles, showpieces etc.

The reports and statistics show the need for recycling ceramic waste.

These statistics made Shashank Nimkar worried about the future. He is a postgraduate student at the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad.

He is developing recycled ceramic tableware from industrial ceramic waste. This is his graduation project.

Shashank says that he observed several people talk about plastic waste and its recycling. But nobody talks about ceramic waste like broken ceramic wares and the ceramic waste of a demolished building.

He also adds that ceramic lives under the earth for a longer time than plastic. Now, it is time to focus on this menace which is being compiled in huge quantities each year.

Plastic can be recycled several times and it decomposes in the earth even after millions of years. However, ceramic does not decompose like plastic. It remains as dead under the earth forever though it does not adversely affect the earth like plastic.

Neither it is recycled nor it is unutilized, so it is just dumped from one place to another.

Hence, Shashank started focusing on ceramic waste. He recycles them and turns them into eco-friendly tableware.

Though it is in an initial stage, Shashank is developing prototypes made of two-parts of recycled ceramic and one-part of fresh clay.

However, he is planning to use both the elements in a fifty-fifty ratio to make the material production eco-friendly.

To make the material, the rejected ceramic items are collected at first. They are crushed to make a fine powder which is mixed with virgin clay. After combining both elements properly, the product is made.

Image Reference: Thebetterindia