Designers transform red mud into ceramic tableware

摘要

A design team at London's Royal College of Art has recycled toxic red mud residue from alumina production to make a series of terracotta-hued ceramic tableware. The project aims to realize the value in ‘waste' by reusing a toxic industrial by-product as a sustainable alternative to raw materials. The team members Guillermo Whittembury, Joris Olde-Rikkert, Kevin Rouff and Luis Paco Bockelmann began studying the potential of Living Room', the designers transform red mud into various functional ceramic table- ware pieces such as cups, bowls, plates, ves- sels and teapots. Red mud, or bauxite tailings, a by-product of refining bauxite to produce alumina for producing aluminium, consists of mainly iron oxide, which results in a vibrant, rusty colour in the ceramics.