Material developer and product designer Agnė Kučerenkaitė develops internationally-recognised sustainability projects
Working with raw materials to transform them into valuable products, designer Agnė Kučerenkaitė has twice won funding from the WORTH Partnership Project, propagating the ideas of the New European Bauhaus. Her project, Biofuel Waste is Bliss, located in the Netherlands and in Lithuania, is now her second to be so recognised.
The project redefines the use of ashes from bioenergy waste streams and creates new circular materials and architectural products, such as tiles and bricks.
Ashes are sourced from the Vilnius Heat Plant, where forestry residues are converted into bioenergy. Each month, approximately 460 tonnes of wood ash waste are generated, which is costly to dispose of. Ceramic glazes and clay bodies could consist of up to 55% in ash from this source, thus replacing newly-excavated raw material.
The project sees waste as material to be used for new, sustainable, functional, aesthetic and long-serving products. It is a joint project together with environmental scientist Marija Špokaitė, seeking to make use of waste in an environmentally optimal way.
“One can argue that when waste is used, the word loses its meaning. I'm giving a new identity to waste. Waste still has a negative connotation in our society, but I visualise and utilise it as a raw material for opportunities, rather than limitations. I see that companies are not used to exchanging resources, and that is how the problem of sustainability of using materials arises. After all, industry generates so much valuable waste! People only now are starting to understand the value of all that, especially as natural resources become scarce,” says Kučerenkaitė.
The designer received funding from the WORTH Partnership Project for an earlier project with handmade linen rugs coloured using upcycled textile dyes that originate from botanical and metal waste and by-products. According to the designer, commercial textile dyeing causes a significant amount of environmental and health problems due to the chemicals used in the process, whereas natural dyeing is rarely employed on an industrial scale. Flax was chosen because it is a versatile, cost-effective, resilient plant, and its cultivation requires far less water and pesticides than cotton. Moreover, linen is a durable, resistant, and hypoallergenic material. The yarns were hand-dyed with 9 natural colours that were developed from waste. Ecolinum, a maker of linen rugs in Panevėžys, participated in the project.
Kučerenkaitė is not only a material developer and product designer, but also the creator of the Ignorance is Bliss brand and design project. The projects she has developed have earned international recognition, including the prestigious Red Dot design award. Her approach to design is research-driven, experimental, and hands-on, repurposing industrial waste and secondary materials to generate higher-value interior and exterior products. By changing the purpose for which materials are used, the designer encourages sustainability and creates innovative designs, which contribute to a more conscious outlook on the environment and creation of environmentally-friendly products on a larger industrial scale.
WORTH is a funding scheme of the European Commission, propagating the ideas of the New European Bauhaus. It creates and supports transnational collaborations between designers, creative people, manufacturing enterprises (SMEs), crafters/makers and technology firms looking to develop design-driven and innovative products.
Photograph courtesy of Agnė Kučerenkaitė (photographer Bas Muda)
Last updated: 20-10-2023