crafting plastics! studio, based in Berlin and Bratislava, was founded in 2016 by Vlasta Kubušová and Miroslav Kral. The studio has been established based on Vlasta’s Master thesis (University of Arts in Berlin, Germany) exploring sustainable, transparent production processes in response to exploitative practices in the fashion industry. Driven by the opportunity to develop a product from its very origin, while being in control of its entire lifespan, crafting plastics! studio revolutionizes properties and values of sustainable but perishable material of the near future.

The unique new generation of material blend has emerged as a result of a long-term collaboration between crafting plastics! studio and material scientists from Slovak University of Technology. The material is made out of 100% raw renewable resources, polymerised from corn starch and metabolised by microorganisms, and it is compostable. Products and experiments created by the studio are the natural result of stretching the bioplastic material potential. New aesthetics of sustainable plastic alternative is explored using high and low tech methods, from standard industrial technologies through laboratory to crafting approach.

EU Strategy & close-loop design

The topic of bioplastics, and especially the need of clear labelling and standardising ways of collection, waste separation and degradation, is on the mind of both European Commission and OSN. In 2017 EU has published a European strategy for plastic and circular economy. In the upcoming years Asian markets are awaiting boom of bioplastic materials, however the growth in Europe is slower. Probably the reason behind this is the fact that environment pollution and its harmful implications are more visible in Asian countries, which is also the region where the major part of European plastic waste ends up. Only recently have Asian countries stated they will no longer be the waste bin of the west, and now the plastic waste is something we have to deal with on our own.

Images / Crafting Plastics