The W Glass Project
In 2017, T.A. Wu launched the “W Glass Project.”
Wu studied resources engineering at National Cheng Kung University, and then went to the University of Cambridge in Britain to earn a degree in industrial management. After returning to Taiwan, he first went to work for the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, and only later returned home to work in his father’s firm. His experience in high-tech industry has taught him that all technologies eventually become “traditional industries,” with the result that the transformation and sustainability of enterprises are issues that must be faced for the future. So where is the future of Spring Pool? Perhaps one answer can be found in the notion of the “circular economy” implicit in the “W Glass Project” that Wu proposed.
“W stands for my father’s name ‘Wu,’ and also for ‘waste,’ but its most important meaning is wu in the sense of ‘not having.’” This is because the W Glass Project has no limits. Anything with recycling as the core concept that makes use of Spring Pool’s recycled glass and the craftsmanship of its glass masters, along with cross-disciplinary cooperation with outside designers, can be incorporated into the W Glass Project.
For the “Circular Economy Ocean” displayed at the 2017 Creative Expo Taiwan, 40 metric tons of recycled glass was used to form a glass “sea,” and visitors were invited to take off their shoes and wade in to experience the tactile sensation. At the Beitou Cooling Summer Festival in July, handmade water bells blown from recycled glass floated in a hot springs pool inside the Beitou Hot Spring Museum, and the bright sound they made by bumping into one another as they floated let people enjoy the feeling of a summer day with both auditory and visual senses. Or there is the “Darts by André” tableware set, made in collaboration with André Chiang: all the items are made from recycled glass, while the mats to go under the dishes are made from the wood of oaken whiskey barrels retired from service. Each project allows recycled glass to appear in daily life in different forms, becoming part of the daily routine.
Does this sound like a case of a business at the end of the industrial value chain taking the initiative to create demand at the head of the chain?
That’s right. “The circular economy should produce value at the end of the chain if we are to close the circle,” says T.A. Wu. He uses the concept of “circularity” to work with people from different fields and create opportunities for recycled glass. For example, for the small glass bottles shaped to fit snugly in the hand made in cooperation with the singer JJ Lin, the constantly growing number of advance orders from fans quietly drove the project along. For the “143 single-mouthful beer glass” project, the public were encouraged to interact with frontline recycling workers, express their thanks, take photos and check in on Facebook. In exchange they could receive a 143-milliliter beer glass manufactured by Spring Pool from recycled glass; this project got a great response.
People from the world of design have also taken the initiative to seek out cooperation with Spring Pool. Hong Kong designer Niko Leung originally worked mainly with ceramics, but she discovered that the waste materials produced in the firing of ceramics are not recyclable, causing a waste of resources. After a friend introduced her to Spring Pool Glass, she found out that glass can be 100% recycled, making it more environmentally friendly than ceramics. The old master craftspeople at Spring Pool, with their consummate skills, blow recycled glass into works that Leung designs. Any failed products can be recycled completely, eliminating the concerns she felt.
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