CIRCULARITY

Year 3 Final Project

The Circularity is a social and political commentary on the capitalist consumerism market of seaside town culture. Identifying a growing issue with the usual take-make-waste linear model, Barry Island itself has been struggling with the increasing callousness at which beach goers discard unwanted items. My final project explores the implementation of a circular plastic economy in attempts to close the loop of waste generation within this seaside town ecosystem. A recycling facility that plugs into existing industries is proposed, creating a designated point of collection for plastic litter and encouraging tourists to be more mindful of their waste. The plastic collected is processed and weaved into fabric to create garments and swimsuits to be sold locally and on site.

The chosen site itself, formerly the location of an old ladies bath house, is a victim of circumstance. Rocky cliffs with access dictated by tides creates an enclave hidden from the rest of the beach, a prime location for loitering and littering without shame. This site provides a direct relation to the beach and is situated in a key location, at the end of Barry’s Tourist trail, to attract visitors to view and be educated on the recycling process. This proposal acts as a re-imagining of the traditional seaside town gift shops, reducing the use of one-time-use plastic objects.

Plastic collected will be sorted into two groups, those unable to be broken down into threads will be used in a heat energy recovery process to heat the second half of the proposal; a Bath house. It is further integrated into the scheme where access to the bath house is only obtained when visitors provide a used plastic item to be recycled.

Research on recycling plastic to textiles process machines