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Plastic Composter

Kuko originated from the german description "Kunststoffkompost" is an automat which enables people to renaturalize their plastics to a mushroom based biomass. The cultures Pestalotiopsis microspora and Phanerochaete chrysosporium are able to decompose the polymers polyethylene and polyurethane and generate a material which is depending on the residues and the fully completed process save to use in various areas.

The low placement of the capsules to throw in the plastic is made to include more users such as children and people in wheelchairs. This inclusion was fundamental because every person should be able educate himself and improve the environment especially in an early age.

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With the interface the user can decide whether they spend their profit to an environment protection organization or change it to such as Payback points, money or converted mushroom substrate. As well it is possible to get more information about Kukos inner process and its part in the life cycle of plastic.         A quick overview about the problems of plastic on our earth is also able to chose.

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The design finally came to shape in a 1:10 scale model. Ahead of the concept was a lot of research and an experimental setup in cooperation with a microbiologist at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research in Berlin. Based on this and other documented experiments the design was adapted to public space and a user friendly interaction was created.