Next time you throw an empty drinks can in the bin, just remember that it may not be the last time you see it. For it could well return - as a robot.
Hong Kong artist Orson Li uses recycled aluminium cans for his intricate miniature 'Canbot' designs. They are very popular, and sell for between US$650 and US$2,500. Each handcrafted piece contains nothing but parts from the original discarded can - 'no screw, no glue, no welding and no colouring', Li says.
He was inspired to create the robots from old drinks cans through his interest in origami, the Japanese art form of paper folding.
Li coined the term 'ori-alu' (a combination of origami and aluminium) to describe the craft of bending and folding aluminium.
He makes each artwork by manipulating, cutting, and bending sheets of recycled aluminium into three-dimensional structures. Li says: 'The process is kind of eco-friendly since no extra materials, such as glue or paint, are involved.'
But the work can be time consuming. It can take between one week and a month to produce a single Canbot. 'You have only one chance to bend the sheet of aluminium,' he says.
It took three years of hard work for Li to be sufficiently skilled to create a Canbot using only his hands and some common household tools. Increased demand for his products and the precision needed to create them means that Li can make only a limited number. At times his hands are so sore that he is unable to hold even a pair of chopsticks.