RECLAIM

Caracara Collective is an experimental design studio based in Helsinki, Finland, focusing on sustainability and circularity. They envision a future without waste where humans and non-humans can co-exist and thrive. Their practice merges research, experimentation, craftsmanship, design, and art. They explore and combine various mediums and materials from traditional craft to digital technology to living organisms like fungi, bacteria, and yeast to many forms of organic waste. Their material research aims to utilize locally available waste streams to create 100% organic, biodegradable and durable materials that could be implemented wider in the fields of design, art & architecture.

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Reclaim is a biodegradable, customisable and non-toxic material made of organic side-streams of different local industries. The main ingredients include orange peel collected from a local supermarket’s juice machines, as well as needles fallen from discarded Christmas trees. The materials contain no synthetic additives. This means that after their useful life the materials can be composted or broken down to make new materials. The production of our materials does not rely on extraction and shipping of virgin resources. Our techniques and recipes are adaptable and scalable. There is waste everywhere in the world, and our material offers an alternative perspective and solution to turn local waste streams into something valuable.

We can create materials with any requested organic waste, and create customised textures and colours using organic dyes. The materials can be processed to wall tiles, artworks, lighting, interior and customised products. If laminated onto a sheet of wood, the material can also be used to create interior surfaces and furniture.

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Created by Caracara Collective