Space Industry and Business News
FROTH AND BUBBLE
Czechs 3D-print Eiffel Tower from ocean waste for Olympics
Czechs 3D-print Eiffel Tower from ocean waste for Olympics
By Jan FLEMR
Prague (AFP) April 22, 2024

A Czech company is 3D-printing a giant Eiffel Tower model for a local Olympics event, using recycled ocean waste as the primary material.

The 14-metre-high (46-foot) model will be installed at an Olympic festival in the north of the Czech Republic, where the public can try different Olympic sports during the Paris Games in July and August.

Jan Hrebabecky, the owner of the 3DDen printing farm, uses printing filament made from ocean waste.

"The material for the Eiffel Tower comes from the shores of Thailand," he told AFP.

"It has excellent mechanic and chemical qualities, great UV resistance, and it is practically immortal."

Collected by Thai fishermen, the plastic waste is sorted, cleaned, desalinated and dried.

A Swiss company turns the waste into granules which a Czech company then processes into 3D-printing filaments.

Hrebabecky had to build a new printer to cope with the material.

"It can crystallise in the printer and destroy it immediately," Hrebabecky said.

But advantages prevail, including the price which is lower than that of traditional filaments.

"There are huge deposits of this priceless material, and anybody can come and take it," said Hrebabecky.

- Plastic Eiffel Tower -

With more than 200 printers, his company has so far printed key rings, miniature sculptures, medals and USB keys.

"But my goal is to print really large things, so we're making furniture and interior decorations as well," Hrebabecky said.

His printers are now busy with the Eiffel Tower, a puzzle of 1,600 3D-printed pieces fortified with steel rods, which Hrebabecky says will be solid enough to hold a helicopter.

He said the two-tonne structure, made from material equivalent to 800,000 plastic bottles, would stand next to the Most lake in northern Czech Republic, which will host the Olympic festival on July 26-August 11.

Nada Cerna, a Czech Olympic Committee manager in charge of the event, said it would allow people to try 52 Olympic sports, watch the Games on large screens and meet Czech athletes in person.

She told AFP 3DDen had impressed the organisers with its environmental-friendly approach.

"It's very important for us. Oceans are a place where people do sports like sailing and windsurfing," she said.

"So if we can highlight the problem in this way and maybe help a bit, we're really happy," Cerna added.

For Hrebabecky, the Eiffel Tower is a step towards a dream he wants to accomplish soon -- a printed house.

"If you build a house using this material, it is almost certain that it will never return to the ocean again," he said.

Related Links
Our Polluted World and Cleaning It Up

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
FROTH AND BUBBLE
Earth Day art urges UK to think green ahead of election
Hebden Bridge, United Kingdom (AFP) April 22, 2024
From the air over the rolling hills of Hebden Bridge in northern England, a gigantic painting interrupts the placid green pasture with a call to action. The work measuring 50 metres (164 feet) long depicts a smiling girl cradling the Earth and beside it are the words: "Vote for Climate, Vote for Our Future". Artist Jamie Wardley, who created the painting for Earth Day on Monday, hopes the message will remind voters to consider the environment when they cast their ballots in a UK general election ... read more

FROTH AND BUBBLE
Chinese company aims to ramp up Serbia copper, gold mining

This alloy is kinky

Two-dimensional nanomaterial expands counter-intuitively under tension

US firms reestablish rare earth element production

FROTH AND BUBBLE
Kratos and SES showcase new virtualized SATCOM system for US Army

Troposcatter Technology by Ultra I&C enhances global defense networks

ATLAS Integrates DoD antenna into Hybrid Space Architecture

Eutelsat and Intelsat forge $500M partnership to expand OneWeb constellation

FROTH AND BUBBLE
FROTH AND BUBBLE
Exploring the marvels of Galileo: Europe's satellite navigation system

TrustPoint Secures AFWERX Phase II Contract for Advanced Navigation Solutions

GMV Spearheads ESA's Mission to Revolutionize Satellite Navigation with LEO Technology

Aerospacelab and Xona Unite to Transform Satellite Navigation

FROTH AND BUBBLE
Major search operation after Japan navy choppers crash

Ukraine says it downed Russian long-range strategic bomber

Ukrainian fighter pilots train in France during European training drive

Serbia eyes French fighter jets to boost its military

FROTH AND BUBBLE
China, future HQ: New ASML boss faces bulging in-tray

New insights in spintronics: Researchers enhance understanding of spin currents

Compact quantum light processing advances with new resource-efficient platform

Reversal in quantized Hall drifts observed at ETH Zurich

FROTH AND BUBBLE
Satellogic partners with O.N.E. Amazon to develop the Internet of Forests

Mapping plant traits from space: HKU team integrates field and satellite data for ecosystem analysis

EarthCARE satellite prepares for upcoming launch

AI-driven hyperspectral imaging breakthrough by intuition-1 satellite

FROTH AND BUBBLE
Paris dream of swimming in the Seine finally within reach

Netherlands sued over 'forever chemical' pollution

Czechs 3D-print Eiffel Tower from ocean waste for Olympics

'No to mining': activists demand closure of Guatemala gold mine

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.