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This crazy sculpture is made by an MIT-engineered machine that 3D prints biopolymers to replace plastic

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Courtesy of the Mediated Matter group

Courtesy of the Mediated Matter group

Aguahoja—a winner of Fast Company’s 2020 World Changing Ideas Awards—rethinks the paradigm of recycling.

By Adele Peters

Recycling plastic hasn’t been successful so far: Of the billions of tons of the material that have been produced since 1950 from fossil fuels, less than 10% has been recycled. A project from MIT called Aguahoja rethinks the paradigm of recycling: By using material 3D-printed from sustainable raw ingredients, it’s designed to degrade back into nature instead of ever going to a recycling center.

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