The statistics are staggering the world produces two billion tonnes of rubbish each year, only 15% of this waste is recycled. It is estimated from our current rate by 2050 as much as 12 billion tonnes of plastic will have accumulated in landfills or the natural environment. The Design Museum takes stock of the current global waste crisis from fashion to food, electronics to construction in 'Waste Age - What can design do?'
 
The exhibition traces the rise of convenience culture and our toxic love affair with single-use plastics. A 1960s advert for Scott's polystyrene party cups revels in the ease 'The party 'glass' you just enjoy … and throw away.' It was enlightening to see how consumers were taught to waste when disposable plastic products entered the market. From the mid-20th century onwards, advertisers marketed a new convenience lifestyle, liberation from postwar austerity of 'make do and mend’. Being wasteful is not a natural human instinct, customers were persuaded that plastic was not too good to be thrown away. Thus, the throwaway culture was conceived. Today we are saturated with disposable plastic; a 2019 study found the UK generated 44kg of single-use plastic waste per person.
 
From kettles to mobile phones, products are no longer made to last. Planned obsolescence, is a manufacturing strategy that originates from the 1920s when General Electric, Philips and others formed the Phoebus cartel. They deemed the long-lasting lightbulb commercially unviable; ruling lightbulbs should only last 1,000 hours, artificially halving their lifespan to force customers to buy replacement bulbs. Today this philosophy is ingrained into standard practice; last year, Apple agreed to pay up to $500m to settle litigation accusing it of slowing down older iPhones to induce owners to buy the latest phones. Manufacturers and designers are heavily implicated, whether it's pushing the convenience or designing for obsolescence, their justification for waste is a healthy economy. The figures displayed throughout the installation lay bare the sheer scale of our waste problem. The current economic model is not sustainable.
 
The Curator Gemma Curtin says, "Waste is a design-made problem, and here are design-made solutions to it.' This is showcased in the 'Precious waste' section of the exhibition with designers utilising 'above-ground mining', exploring the scope for dismantling and reuse. From undervalued usable material to new materials made from waste. Scottish start-up, Kenoteq's brick fabricated from construction waste sits alongside Fashion Designer Phoebe English's garments assembled from offcuts from her own studio's textile waste.
 
The exhibition makes a strong argument for restoring and reusing. The investment of time and skill is wholly justified when considering the embodied carbon held in materials. Around 45 tonnes of carbon dioxide is released in constructing a new build house; the equivalent amount would be released driving around the Earth ten times. It was fantastic to see the reclamation industry being represented for their part in reducing waste in a series of short films produced by students at the Architectural Association, investigating their local ecosystems of building material reuse.
 
'Demolition is a waste of energy, a waste of material, a waste of history… it has a very negative social impact. For us, it is an act of violence.' The rallying cry of French architecture studio Lacaton & Vassal, whose refurbishment of three social housing blocks in Bordeaux are represented with photographs. Their design responded to the occupants' needs whilst respecting the original architecture, which only further makes a case for reuse over demolition especially given that global construction waste is set to double to 2.2bn tonnes a year by 2025.
 
The final section of the exhibition, 'post-waste', looks at a future where materials are grown rather than extracted, giving hope of sorts in mushroom form. Experimental projects on display include the world's first fully recyclable and biodegradable electronic circuit board and a couture petroleum-free dress designed by Phillip Lim covered in algae bioplastic sequins.
 
With little time to act to mitigate climate change, the exhibition highlights multiple opportunities to change our current course, promoting old and new ways of design that can challenge the linear model of 'take, make and waste'. The question is will it inspire manufacturers, retailers and policymakers to look beyond the bottom line?
 
The exhibition, 'Waste Age: What can design do?' is at The Design Museum until 20th February.
 
The Design Museum
224 - 238 Kensington High Street, London W8 6AG