“Out of sight, out of mind” is the way we treat waste. Once we throw our unwanted items into the bin or recycling bin, it’s none of our business. Where do the wastes go? How are they being treated? How do we understand the process? These are questions that Gaau1Up is confronting by making Mobile Shredder. It existed as a demonstration and seed of imagination how we can treat waste. Mobile Shredder is a human powered machine that shreds plastic waste into flakes which will then be used for plastic upcycling.
“Out of sight, out of mind” is the way we treat waste. Once we throw our unwanted items into the bin or recycling bin, it’s none of our business. Where do the wastes go? How are they being treated? How do we understand the process?
These are questions that Gaau1Up is confronting by making Mobile Shredder. It existed as a demonstration and seed of imagination how we can treat waste. Mobile Shredder is a human powered machine that shreds plastic waste into flakes which will then be used for plastic upcycling.
The machine evolved from hand-powered to pedal-powered. Mobile Shredder 3.0 will be a new generation combined with XYZ-Spaceframe system and explore the possibility of a bikeable mobile shredder.
HUI Ho Cheong Ian is an upcycling designer practicing in the city where he was born, Hong Kong. He completed his Bachelor's degree in Architecture in 2016, then started Gaau1 Up with friends which upcycle plastic waste by self-building Precious Plastic machines.
With the aim of continuously learning new innovations, he was subsequently granted a Master of Architecture in 2022.
Ian is currently running Gaau1 Up Design Studio to adopt a design-by research and research-by-design approach, in order to investigate how upcycling plastic can be woven together into both products or architecture and applied to the community.
Founded in 2016, it is Gaau1 Up’s aim to promote the value of plastic and related knowledge to the public through various experiential, creative and educational programmes.
Since its establishment, Gaau1 Up has built a set of small plastic recycling machines, including Shredder, Injection machine, Extrusion machine, Heat-press machine and so on, according to Precious Plastic’s open source design blueprint.