3D printed cups made of orange peels

Italian-based design and innovation office Carlo Ratti Associati, in collaboration with global energy company Eni, developed an experimental Circular Juice Bar that not only squeezes oranges, but directly makes bioplastic of the waste peels which are 3D printed into cups to drink the juice from.

Called Feel the Peel, the orange squeezer is a 3.10m tall machine topped with a dome filled with 1,5000 oranges. If you order a juice, oranges slide down into the squeezer. The waste peels fall into a lower part, where they are dried, milled and mixed with Polylactic Acid (PLA) to turn them into bioplastic.

The bioplastic is heated and melted into filament, which is then used to print cups with an integrated 3D printer, a process that is visible to visitors. The cups can be used to drink juice and are then recycled.

Photos: Carlo Ratti Associati