Royal College of Art graduate Tessa Silva has turned a clay-like material made from waste milk into bulbous vases, candelabras and door handles called Chalk & Cheese.
Silva's technique, which was developed over the course of three years, sees chalk mixed with a common byproduct of the dairy industry ? the excess skimmed milk which is created in the production of butter and cream.

"The proteins are extracted from fresh milk and combined with chalk to produce a material similar to air drying or polymer clay," she told Dezeen.
"It can be hand thrown or pressed into moulds, but these particular objects are created by extruding the material into moulds using a sausage stuffer."

The surplus milk comes from an organic dairy farm in Surrey, and the chalk from a quarry in Hampshire. For the moulds, Silva uses another post-industrial waste product in the form of deadstock fabric. Once dried, the finished material has a surface reminiscent of stone or concrete. In the Chalk & Cheese collection, this is left mostly exposed, save for the doorhandles which are variously painted in speckled blue and rust shades.

As well as being locally sourced, the material can be easily composted and used as fertiliser once it is no longer needed.
"In order to use it as compost, it would need to be soaked in water for a number of hours, where it will eventually begin to decompose and crumble into dust," she explained.

Silva's material is a modern take on one th...