Here at 3D Rapid Print, one of the fastest growing 3D Printing companies in the Thames Valley, we like to keep abreast of the latest innovations in 3D printing.
On October 9th 2021, cultural news website Wallpaper* spoke of a 3D printed portable toilet made from upcycled plastic medical waste named The Throne. It was commissioned by self-proclaimed “Accelerating Earth’s most vital ventures” foundation To.org and Spanish design studio Nagami and was installed in Gstaad, Switzerland in August 2021.
To.org has worked extensively on the African continent, particularly in Kyebando, Uganda. To help compensate for the lack of proper sanitation there, in 2018 To.org organised the creation of a toilet building made from plastic bottles and polythene bags. Named The Bottle Brick Toilet, this ended up consisting of 13,356 bottles and more than a million bags, employing more than 400 people during its construction. The hype surrounding the Bottle Brick Toilet prompted To.org to collaborate with non-profit organisation GiveLove to construct further sustainable public toilets in Kyebando.
The Throne has an almond-shaped sliding door to help minimise its physical footprint and a skylight to enable natural illumination. Inside, there is an inbuilt shelf to allow for toilet paper storage and a place for the user to put down their phone. Separate containers for solid and liquid waste facilitate eventual composting and an additional container for wood chips eliminates unwanted smells.
Nagami 3D printed The Throne’s main parts in just 3 days; other parts were either injection-moulded or ordered from elsewhere. Despite the relatively fast turnaround, To.org co-founder and CEO Nachson Mimran argued that there was a way to go before something similar could be built in Uganda. Even though To.org runs a design lab in Kyebando that has an advanced 3D printer, Nagami’s 3D printer has greater energy and maintenance requirements and needs greater training for a larger team. In addition, The Throne not being stackable like conventional portable toilets makes it more difficult to scale.
Rather than treating The Throne as a display piece, Mimran put it to work on the same construction site where he came up with the idea for its creation. He also hopes that The Throne will provoke positive discussion about sanitation and encourage 3D printing companies to help bring it to more remote areas.
3D printing is an amazing tool. It can grow your small business or start a mini revolution in an industry. Explore what it can do for you when you contact us today.
Disclaimer: Featured image of “Lady at Her Toilet – Google Art Project” is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. The work of art itself is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 100 years or fewer.
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