The Trash Kitchen workshop in Taipei breathes new life into throw-away items such as plastic bottle caps, food packaging, single-use utensils, and discarded toys. The hands-on experience allows customers to participate in the recycling process by transforming plastic waste brought from home into a pair of sunglasses within two hours.
Arthur Huang, the founder of Miniwiz, the company behind the workshop, explained that the aim of Trash Kitchen is to demonstrate the quick and clean recycling process that transforms waste into something valuable without generating secondary pollution. Miniwiz also uses a “miniTrashpresso” machine to create tiles, bricks, hangers, and other daily necessities from plastic and organic waste. Kora Hsieh, editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar Taiwan, praised the sunglasses project as a positive step towards promoting sustainable fashion and emphasized the importance of hands-on experiences for consumers in understanding the environmental impact of their choices.
Participants in the workshop expressed how it inspired them to be more mindful of their waste production and increase their use of reusable items. One participant, Debbie Wu, emphasized the importance of individual actions in reducing waste and the significance of recycling and minimizing the use of plastic for a better future, especially for the next generation.
Taiwan generated a record 11.58 million metric tons of waste in 2023, with 6.27 million tons being recyclable trash, as reported by the Ministry of Environment.