2023 | East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY
Advisors: Uriel Fogué
Advisors: Uriel Fogué
Instead of proposing a new recyclable plastic industry that replaces the original plastic supply chain, the project aims to provide a series of logistical infrastructures to support the collectives that are already operating in New York City, targeting the existing plastic and microplastic pollution problem.
The project looks explicitly at East Williamsburg where the plastic production industries are concentrated and the highest level of sewage overflow is happening. As plastic recycling attempts in the US have fallen short, the project aims to redesign our relationships with plastics through a time-based network adaptation. A series of micro-scale interventions, which are adapted from larger-scale microplastic treatment technologies, will be introduced at a community level intervening at every microplastic to water entry point. By maximizing the growth of microorganisms and increasing contact points between microorganisms and microplastic, the microplastic bio-degradation process can be accelerated.
The interventions can be divided into three categories: collection and treatment of wastewater, microalgae collection for activist support, and microorganism cultivation at both a community scale and domestic scale for microplastic bio-degradation. By providing support to existing sustainable and bio-restoration activities and implementing decentralized green infrastructure in New York City, a cleaner and safer community can be foreseeable.
