Carlo Ratti Associati is an international design firm based in Torino, Italy, who developed an incredible orange juice bar that turns the fruit peel waste into 3-D printed bioplastic cups on the spot! Freshly-squeezed orange juice is served in the freshly printed cups as a prime example of a zero-waste circular economy. It doesn’t get any fresher than Feel The Peel!
Feel The Peel
The prototype orange squeezer machine, called “Feel the Peel,” was designed in collaboration with Eni, a global energy company. The juicer is 10-feet tall and topped with a massive dome comprised of many helical racks holding up to 1,500 oranges. A 3-D printer is installed at the machine’s base.
The machine begins to work its magic the very moment a consumer places an order. The oranges roll down the spiral to a machine that cuts the oranges in half then squeezes all the juice out. Then the leftover peels fall through a tube where they accumulate in a see-through compartment at the bottom of the machine. The rinds are collected, then dried, milled, and mixed with PLA (Polylactic Acid) to form a bioplastic material.
The bioplastic is then heated and melted to form a filament, which is fed through the machine’s built-in 3D printer to create recyclable 3D printed cups. The cups are printed on the spot and filled with freshly squeezed juice. Visitors can watch the entire printing process of the cup they are about to drink out of being made. To top it all off, when the consumer finishes their juice, they can recycle the cup into the machine for the material to continually break down and be remade into future cups.
Circular, Zero Waste Economy
The innovative prototype juice bar is a study of how simple, everyday pleasures can be part of a circular, zero-waste economy. Moving towards a circular economy involves eliminating waste and pollution from the consumption and production process; and building natural systems.
Founder Carlo Ratti said:
The principle of circularity is a must for today’s objects. Working with Eni, we tried to show circularity in a very tangible way, by developing a machine that helps us to understand how oranges can be used well beyond their juice. The next iterations of Feel the Peel might include new functions, such as printing fabric for clothing from orange peels.
The Circular Juice Bar made its debut in Rimini, Italy, in the summer, then was installed at Milan’s Singularity University Summit on the 8th and 9th of October 2019. Now, it’s touring around Italy to demonstrate a new approach to environmental circularity and inspire others to incorporate zero-waste in their daily lives.
