Episode 8: Mitigating Exhibition Plastic Waste with Alessandro Scola
Exhibits produce a significant amount of waste over a short period of time often due the prioritization of custom mounts which cannot be reused. However for objects of similar size and proportion, like books, modularity and simplicity are not only possible, but ideal when it comes to mounts. Thermoplastics like acrylic and PETG are standard materials for cradles used by most museums and libraries exhibiting books. These costly one-offs often can't be recycled by most local municipalities. So instead of creating waste with every exhibit, reusability is key.
Alessandro talks to Roxy about his rationale for developing the Modular Book Cradle System and why it is advantageous for mitigating plastic waste and saving institutions time and money. As more institutions adopt the system, there will be more uniformity in how books are exhibited, which can make inter-institutional loans even simpler and less wasteful.
For more information, including schematics and instructions, please contact Alessandro directly.
Sources from Alessandro:
Contact Alessandro Scola
Vivak PET-G Producer:
PlaskoliteVivak Fabrication Manual by Plaskolite. (Many other resources are available for download under their ‘Resources’ page.)
Precious Plastic: Recycling initiatives
TerraCycle: Multiple avenues for recycling including prepaid Zero Waste Boxes by theme.
Source about 5% recycling in the US: "Anelia Milbrandt, Kamyria Coney, Alex Badgett, Gregg T.Beckham, ‘Quantification and evaluation of plastic waste in the United States’, Resources, Conservation and Recycling 183 (2022)."