Creative Recycling of Waste Glass
Contributing to students' creativity and learning by using recycled glass
Project leaders: Dr Elena Sazhina and Dr Elizabeth Manzanares-Taylor, University of Brighton
The objective of this project was to contribute to students' creativity and learning by providing facilities and expertise for developing designs and prototypes using recycled glass, possibly in combination with other materials. The project helped raise students' awareness of environmental issues and encouraged cross-pollination of ideas on creative recycling for students from different subject areas including art, design and engineering.
A series of laboratory sessions on glass properties have been designed and implemented into undergraduate curriculum. The focus was set on seeing waste glass as a creative media. Postgraduate research has resulted, among others, in a patent application for a construction unit made of waste materials. It is applicable for construction industry and flood defences, architectural applications and small-scale DIY crafts for home and garden.
The contribution into learning process has been reviewed [1] at the 11th International Conference on Engineering and Product Design Education, http://www.conftool.net/epde09/
The partners in this project were the University of Brighton, the Royal College of Art and the V&A
[1] Sazhina, E.; Manzanares, E. (2009) Teaching sustainable design through a creative approach to technology and recycling. In: Creating a better world - Proceedings from the 11th international conference on engineering and product design education. pp. 420-425. ISBN: 978-1-904670-18-6; Published by: The Design Society, University of Strathclyde, 75 Montrose Street, Glasgow, G1 1XJ and Institution of Engineering Designers, Courtleigh, Westbury Leigh, Westbury, Wiltshire, BA13 3TA
