Could organic waste from our cities’ restaurant industries be used to create high value materials and products for the built environment? This hands-on workshop will introduce possible approaches to organic waste upcycling and bioplastic development for the urban context. Participants will be working with sugarcane waste, also known as bagasse—one of the world’s most abundant agricultural byproducts. It can be collected from sugar refineries or from local restaurants that serve sugarcane juice. By mixing biopolymers, natural additives, and bagasse, participants will explore how to create low-carbon, non-toxic, biodegradable materials and discuss their possible applications in the urban context. Each participant will be able to try out two different fibre-reinforced bioplastic recipes and create 2D and 3D samples. After the workshop, participants are invited to assemble the bio-based samples into a hanging sculpture in Mouraria Creative Hub.

Julia Steketee, from Bagaceira Project and Audrey Belliot from SlowLab came together to develop two different small scale solar dehydrator models appropriate for the urban context. They adapted these designs from open-source designs from Inti-Energies Solidaires and from Instructables.com. They taught a group of 20 participants how to build these models at the NeoMateria workshop series at the Center of Craft of Catalonia. The event was organized and supported by MaterFad Barcelona's Materials Center and the Center for Commerce, Craft and Fashion of Catalonia (CCAM). The two designers joined up with designer and researcher Laurence Humier and Materfad's scientific director Robert Thompson for a public talk and conversation about alternative energy sources and cooking materials.

The 11th edition of the bilingual book presents 200 new sustainable products and concepts from 60 countries, complemented by insights from international experts such as Kasia Dulko Gaszyna, Sustainability Manager, IKEA Germany, and Leonne Cuppen, Founder of Dutch Design Week. The content spreads on categories from Architecture, Building Components, Beauty & Personal Care, Consumer Goods, Fashion, Freestyle, Interior & Lifestyle, Kitchen, Kids, Mobility, New Materials, Packaging, and Workspace. Bagaceira Project’s Fiberboard material is featured in the New Materials Category.  The book is available in German and English for purchase online.

"Driving Design II is the sixth of seven publications from the Distributed Design Platform. Established in 2017 and co-funded by the European Union, the Distributed Design Platform brings together Fab Labs, Makerspaces, cultural organizations, universities, and design centers from around the globe.

This book is a testament to the potential of design to address the pressing challenges of our time. Join us as we venture into the realms of collaborative experimentation, where designers become agents of change, translating methods across different contexts and sectors. We invite you to explore an alternative present that is not confined to the status quo, but seeing design as a driving force behind systemic transformation."

Materiom is a collaborative platform that aims to accelerate the research development and uptake of materials that have a net-positive impact on the planet. The team has created an open-access database supporting bio-based materials innovation for packaging, textiles, durable goods, the built environment and more. Bagaceira Project has published some of the their material formulas on this open source platform to contribute to the growing library of bio-based material recipes. Designers and makers are welcome to try these recipes out or build upon them by altering the ingredients or fabrication process.

Over 1500 participants from 60 countries applied for the 11^th edition of the Green Product Award. After being reviewed under the aspects of design, innovation & sustainability, the best submissions were nominated. Bagaceira Fiberboard is one of the nominees in the New Materials!

This bagasse-based fiberboard forms part of the Bagaceira material library, a collection of new materials made from the main byproduct of the sugarcane industry, bagasse. The material is made from renewable and biodegradable materials: bagasse fibers, plant starches, and calcium carbonate. It is strong and sturdy and can be molded into three-dimensional shapes. Designer, Julia Steketee has developed a few prototypes for lampshades by casting this material over three-dimensional molds. Natural plant or mineral-based pigments are added to achieve a variation of earthy tones.
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‍“Bagaceira Fiberboard” is a good example of the level of creativity and passion with which our nominees are contributing to a more sustainable future."
- Nils Bader, Director Green Product Awards

Julia Steketee opened the doors to her studio to share her experience as an MDEF student and a Fab Lab Barcelona staff member, while allowing the Fab Lab team to take a peek into her design practice focused on local, waste-based material exploration and research.

Bagaceira Project examines the potential of one of the world’s most abundant agricultural byproducts—sugarcane bagasse—as a key ingredient to develop regenerative materials for the built environment. They have partnered with a Brazilian restaurant in Barcelona that presses cane daily to make juice for their customers. Instead of tossing the bagasse into the trash, they collect it and bring it to the material research lab to develop materials and products for the built environment.