Zero Waste Bistro installation provides circular-economy model

A pop-up restaurant that is built from recycled food packaging and that composts all of its leftovers has been set up at the WantedDesign Manhattan fair. Commissioned by the Finnish Cultural Institute in New York, Zero Waste Bistro is open for four days to coincide with the NYCxDesign festival. “Finland is really known for its classic design; consumer products, furniture,” Bergroth told Dezeen. “But lately it’s been more about material innovations. Sustainable food packaging… biodegradable solutions.” To build the restaurant, she chose panels made from recycled Tetra Pak – a packaging material commonly used for milk cartons. The panels are fabricated in batches by ReWall in Iowa, and take their colour from whichever products are processed at the time. In this case, the surfaces have a mottled silver-blue tone from afar, while the text and barcodes from the packaging are visible when looked at up close. The structure forms a long, narrow space, with arches over the table that runs down the middle. “Because it’s a four-day event, I wanted to do something that’s visual, fun,” said Bergroth. “This tunnel space creates a nice intimate dining experience, and nice acoustics.” She also created a set of speckled trays using Durat – a solid-surface material from a Finnish company of the same name, which is made from recycled plastics and is itself fully recyclable.

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