CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The city of Charlotte and a local environmental group Envision Charlotte converted an old city garage into a showcase for all things waste minimization.
The idea behind Charlotte's Innovation Barn is to create jobs, while working with local businesses to reuse waste materials through a process known as the “circular economy." As a comparison, traditional businesses are in a "linear economy" because the raw materials they use turn up in landfills.
In contrast, in a circular economy, the goal is zero waste, where everything is reused by the business or others.
Among the many components of the Innovation Barn, there’s a machine that pulverizes waste minimization and turns it into a type of sand that can be used for concrete and gardening. There’s a plastics lab that recycles food containers and other plastic items that aren’t recycled in the city of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. They also have a coffee shop, a teaching kitchen and a space for special events.
Recently, a group of local high school students who are members of a sustainability club at Providence Day School did something very unique, as part of the circular economy. They collected takeaway food containers, partnered with the Innovation Barn, and used one of the special machines to break those containers down into something more useful. The containers were shredded into flakes and molded into a 3D printer filament that was used to create a durable, 55-pound bench.
The Innovation Barn is having a contest to guess how many plastic containers it took to create the bench. The winners gets a tote bag made from barley bags that local brewers use in their beer-making process. Guesses must be submitted by midnight on Sunday on either their Facebook or Instagram pages.
Contact Larry Sprinkle at lsprinkle@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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