Hidden beauty
“A new material created by utilising and harnessing the waste from the slaughter industry”
Each year more than 60 billion animals are slaughtered globally - one billion in Britain alone.
Therefore, animal remains present a constant and significant waste stream. Abattoir waste consists of blood, bone, fat, skin, hair, animal trimmings and urine, all of which can be hugely problematic to the environment by overwhelming natural eco-systems on our land, in our rivers and in our oceans
The mountain of animal waste we create daily is culturally associated with dirt: it must be cleaned, destroyed or disguised. Consequently, and due to the increasing costs of removal, slaughterhouses often dispose of their waste through the sewers, landfills or on farmland. However, even when this waste is incinerated, it releases dangerous heavy metals into the atmosphere [sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides], all toxins that are extremely detrimental to our air quality and human health.
Through the crafting of everyday functional objects, my project aims to not only practically reduce the mountain of waste we generate every day, but also help to change our perception of it, both as a valuable commodity but also culturally as something that doesn’t need to be discarded.