buøy

“buøy” is a project to transform discarded ocean plastic into beautiful traditional crafts. It was born from an in-house project called “Plas + tech project”, which began in Technolab Co., Ltd., a product design company based in Kanagawa ward, Yokohama.

The idea behind “buøy” is that the essential cause of the ocean plastic pollution is not “material itself of plastic,” but the “human habit of using and discarding it easily.” Mass-produced plastic is discarded because it is seen as an inexpensive “commodity” that can be easily replaced. However, if it is beautiful and only one original “craft” in the world, can we still throw them away? No, we would care them more carefully. A craft dish made from ocean plastic garbage came out of this idea.

buøy’s beautiful design was realized by a special manufacturing method. It utilizes the properties of plastic, which melts with heat and hardens when cooled, and presses products at a constant pressure while applying heat. This makes it possible to create beautiful molded plates while mixing different types and colors of plastic materials. This method is currently patent-pending.

The ocean plastic garbage used as the material for buøy was collected by Technolabo staff on the Zushi Coast in Kanagawa, and the project fund was raised by crowdfunding.

1. Use plastic waste in the ocean as a material.

buøy’s craft is made from plastic garbage on the coast. buøy’s products directly contribute to the reduction of ocean plastic waste. It also provides people with an opportunity to think about plastic pollution through cleanup activities along the coast.

2. Creating “crafts” instead of “products”

With the concept of making individual original “crafts” instead of mass-produced “products” that are inexpensive and replaceable, the project try communicate the essence of the ocean plastic pollution that the cause of the problem lies not in the plastic material itself, but in how it is used.

3. Beautiful crafts using the properties of plastic

buøy turns plastic waste into new, high value crafts. The project makes use of the plastic’s properties of “imputrescible” and “easy renewable” which are usually recognized as negative aspects in the ocean plastic pollution. Another point is that it focuses on the beauty of the product so that people can intuitively understand its value.