2024 - LIGHTHOUSE

LIGHTHOUSE

Conception
Statistics show that the disposal rate of new disposable masks has risen rapidly in recent years, and was once close to the disposal rate of used masks. The investigation found that the reason is that the disposable masks produced by the earlier batch of oversupply are facing the problem of backlog and expiration and cannot be used normally, and the degradation time in nature is long, and the cost of human intervention is large, so a large amount of waste is generated. Components such as polypropylene (PP), which are difficult to degrade in disposable masks, cause serious environmental pollution and ecological hazards. This material is transformed into a façade material with many advantages in architecture at a low cost, taking into account the core function of shading and lighting and the aesthetic needs of changing color and texture, and constructing the image of a lighthouse of recycled materials along the coast. On the one hand, it dissolves a large number of expired backlogs to create a healthy environment for sustainable recycling, and on the other hand, it provides people with a place of spiritual sustenance, sightseeing, and nostalgia for the lost time.
Principle
The main components of disposable masks are polypropylene (PP), spray molding, non-woven fabric filter layer and other materials, and the composition of polyethylene is not changed by means of recycling. In order to obtain the ideal light transmittance, the test configuration was mixed with 2:1 disposable mask fragments and polypropylene plastic bottle fragments, the disposable masks provided color texture, and the plastic bottle fragment content provided light transmittance changes. The polypropylene melts at a temperature of 105°C to 135°C, and the mixture is melted and pressed into a sheet as a recycled translucent sheet for architectural translucent curtain walls, veneer materials, art installations and other applications.
Saving
The weight of a disposable mask is about 4g, excluding the unusable parts such as ear loops and wires, the available mass is about 3g, and the weight of the material board with the above size of 1.5*1.5*0.02m is about 1200g, and a ”lighthouse” needs about 30 such plates, which can be converted into 8,000 disposable masks and 12 kg of plastic water bottles.