South Korean designer Haneul Kim has collected thousands of used disposable face masks from his university campus and recycled them to create a stackable stool.
Called Stack and Stack, the project hopes to set an example for how the 129 billion single-use face-masks that the world goes through every month during the coronavirus pandemic can be diverted from ending up in landfill and in our oceans.
Kim's stools can be stacked on top of each other
"In the beginning, I stockpiled disposable masks used by me and my friends but the quantity that could be collected in this way was limited," said the Kaywon University student. "So I installed mask collection boxes on campus and emptied them periodically."
After quarantining them over a period of days, Kim stacked the masks inside of a mould and melted them one by one using a heat gun. The patterns are derived from the colour of the face masks
Gradually, the material built up to create a sturdy seating design, with around 250 masks needed to form each leg and another 750 for the seat.
The final result needs no glue or resin to hold it together and is completely made from the recycled personal protective equipment (PPE), with no added materials. Even the stools' marbled white, blue and pink patterns are derived not from added dyes or paints but simply from the colour of the original masks.

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