The Qiangweili Residential Community in Shanghai's Hongkou District has recently added a new place for residents to rest their legs – a bench made entirely of recycled food boxes.
The 3D-printed white park bench was manufactured from roughly 1,000 discarded polypropylene food containers collected from the neighborhood.
At a first glance, the bench looks like any other piece of street furniture. Only a small placard reveals its origin: "Made from recycled takeaway containers."
The environment-friendly bench is a reflection of the neighborhood's recycling efforts. Residents make it a habit of bringing recyclable waste to smart recycling bins set up in the neighborhood compound. Plastic waste then gets sorted out, cleaned and reprocessed into high-grade recycled pellets, making them once again useful materials.
"This bench has been warmly welcomed by everyone in our compound. It's great - people bring their waste here to recycle, the area stays cleaner with garbage sorting, and we all get something useful in return," said a resident.
Wang Xiaoliang, Communist Party Secretary at the Hongwan Residential Sub-District, said the project offers a vivid lesson in sustainability.
"By placing this recycled bench here, we give residents a tangible example of turning waste into treasure and living green. Items we no longer need are handed to an enterprise that uses technology to provide more eco-friendly facilities," he explained.
Shanghai neighborhood introduces bench made of recycled food containers
