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Supercyclers ^[6] is an Australian design group that gives new life to waste materials by creating useful and beautiful objects with them. Their 2012 Milan Design Week ^[7] exhibition in the Ventura Lambrate district showcases an inspiring assortment of functional recycled objects ^[8] - what we really like is that instead of just putting pieces of scrap together, they have converted waste into desirable objects that you would really want to have in your house. According to Sarah K, the head of Supercyclers, "Designers should be able to think through the life of the product, and how it would eventually end up in landfill. When we look at waste plastic bags now, we look at them for their colors and how they can be converted into beautiful objects."

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We were swept up by this brilliant chair made from a recycled broom that was showcased at this year’s Supercyclers ^[9] exhibit.

Tamara Maynes’ geometric Quilt Light features an elegant folded pattern. Supercyclers ^[9] provides the template for the lamp, so anyone can cut the pattern out of any type of waste material to create their own lamp.

Henry Wilson’s “A Joint” is a multi-use joinery system that makes it possible to unite standardized, multi sized, pre-dimensional timber. In fact, all the tables for this exhibition were created using this sandcast joint and waste materials from other stands.

Plastic Fantastic ^[10] is a project focused on creating objects out of used plastic bags – for example, here is a small lamp. The cover can be changed, and it provides a different effect depending on the color of plastic used.

Mark Vaarwerk ^[11] unveiled a line of objects created by compressing polystyrene using a technique that he developed. This hardens the material while giving it a beautiful texture.

Mark Vaarwerk ^[11] also used his compressed polystyrene technique to create a beautiful series of boxes out of objects like broccoli packaging.

Ett la Benn ^[12] has developed a technique for air-drying cellulose material to create beautiful pots and lamps. He has worked on industrializing his production methods to yield standard shapes and sizes.

This group of recycled plastic vessels designed by the Supercyclers ^[9] shows off the various colors and textures of thrown-away plastic bags.

+ Supercyclers ^[9]

+ Inhabitat Milan Furniture Fair Coverage ^[7]