Plastic alternative bioplastic, made from vegetable oils, fats, fish scales, farm waste or other renewables, embraced by furniture designers

Plastic, once the 20th century’s “wonder material”, has lost none of its usefulness. But it has become an environmental pariah, which is why a growing number of designers today are experimenting with bioplastic, a purportedly greener alternative made from renewable biomass such as vegetable fats and oils, corn or potato starch, seaweed, algae, shrimp, fish scales and even blood.

South Korean designer Jongdae Ryu is one. Not only does he produce furniture and homeware solely from bioplastic and/or other recycled materials, he employs 3D printing to further reduce waste during the production process.

Ryu explored his early interest in the medium and the technology during an artist-in-residence stint at Marunuma Art Park in Asaka, Japan, in 2017 because, he says, society “can’t keep using oil-based plastics which are destroying the earth”.

Ryu’s first collection of side tables using cornstarch as the base material was launched last year. Since then, the Seoul-based designer has added matching stools to his collection, as well as homeware such as vases and cups.

In contrast to plastics derived from petroleum hydrocarbon, which can take hundreds of years to break down – if at all – bioplastics made from plant-based polymers are ostensibly 100 per cent compostable and degrade in a few months at a composting facility. (It’s no silver bullet, though – if dumped at a landfill, bioplastics can still take centuries to decompose.)