Narrator: This speaker is made
out of 100 nonrecyclable plastic bags.
It was designed by a startup
called Gomi in Brighton, England.
We called the company Gomi because it means
litter, or waste, in Japanese.
And we are really inspired by Japanese minimal design,
so that was super important for us to include,
and both our inspirations and designs
also show that, yeah, it is made from waste,
but it can still look really beautiful.
Narrator: Gomi's aim is to stop plastic waste
being incinerated or going to landfill,
and instead using it to create objects
that people would love to have in their homes.
And the first thing that the designers
have developed is this Bluetooth speaker.
So here's how it's made.
After receiving the plastic waste
from wholesalers and local residents,
Tom, the designer, along with his team
select the equivalent of 100 plastic bags
and place it into the ovens for it to melt down.
Once the bags have melted down into sheets,
they're mixed together onto a work surface to form a ball.
This warm plastic dough is then kneaded
until it looks like colored marble.
The speaker's compression molds are heated
and filled with plastic dough.
Once the molds are hot, they're placed
into a pressing machine, and then they are pressed together
until the dough has filled the entire form.
The excess dough is cut away and recycled,
and the molds are placed into water to cool down.
Once the plastic has solidified, the molds are opened,
and the speaker's components are hand-finished.
When the speaker's shell is ready,
all of the electronic components of the speaker
are inserted, and the speaker is assembled.
I really enjoy actually making the speakers myself
and hand-marbling the colors.
I just, I'm from a craft background,
and I find it so satisfying actually making a product
and seeing it go from a waste material, unwanted material,
to a product that people want to have in their homes.
And I find that process so satisfying.
In order to make a speaker, we use around 100 plastic bags
or equivalent. We take it from local companies
that are trying to, that don't have a use for it
and have to pay to get rid of it,
and it normally doesn't go to a great place.
It affects our environment in the end.
Narrator: So far, the world has produced
around 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic.
Of this, 6.3 billion has turned into plastic waste,
and only around 9% of this plastic waste is being recycled.
Much of the plastic we use ends up in landfills,
and this happens because it's either impossible to recycle,
local authorities don't accept it,
or individuals don't put it into recycling bins.
But designers around the world
are now coming up with innovative ways
to reuse this nonrecyclable plastic waste.
We chose to recycle plastic into Bluetooth speakers
because at the moment there's a lot of furniture
being made from recycled plastic,
and we wanted to push it a little bit further
and see if we could make tech products from it.
Especially going down to the beach,
we thought, all the plastic waste, it'd be great.
So rather than polluting the sea,
you can actually have that plastic waste
in a design product that you can play
and listen to at parties on the beach.
Narrator: Each speaker has a unique marbled color,
depending on what kind of waste plastic
is available at the time of manufacture.
It's all dependent on the colors that we mix
and the suppliers that we have.
So if we're doing beach cleans in the summer,
for example, it's really crazy, but if we do a beach clean
one day and there's a festival on,
we might have loads of plastic of one color.
So that will influence the design
of a whole range of speakers.
Narrator: Their intention is not only
to recycle plastic waste
but also to create an infinitely recyclable product.
We also have designed the speakers in our products
so that if they ever do break
or if anything goes wrong with them,
we can take it back,
and we can reuse something else with it.
'Cause that's something that we're really passionate about
is not only upcycling but also fitting
into this circular economy where products
don't have to be thrown away.
Narrator: At present, the electronic components
inside the Gomi speaker
are not made from recycled materials,
but the company is working with partners
to make sure that all of the broken electronic parts
of their speakers are returned and recycled properly.
Our main goal this year is to try
and use a ton of plastic waste
that would all go to landfill or incineration.
Going forwards, we really wanna collaborate
with other companies and other designers
and just try and really push the sustainable message
and start eliminating waste streams.