Waste Not: Taiwan Workshop Turns Trash into Sunglasses 

Arthur Huang, founder of Miniwiz, the company that runs Trash Kitchen, holds a pair of sunglasses made with plastic waste in Taipei, Taiwan, August 19, 2024. (Reuters)
Arthur Huang, founder of Miniwiz, the company that runs Trash Kitchen, holds a pair of sunglasses made with plastic waste in Taipei, Taiwan, August 19, 2024. (Reuters)
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Waste Not: Taiwan Workshop Turns Trash into Sunglasses 

Arthur Huang, founder of Miniwiz, the company that runs Trash Kitchen, holds a pair of sunglasses made with plastic waste in Taipei, Taiwan, August 19, 2024. (Reuters)
Arthur Huang, founder of Miniwiz, the company that runs Trash Kitchen, holds a pair of sunglasses made with plastic waste in Taipei, Taiwan, August 19, 2024. (Reuters)

Plastic bottle caps, food packaging, single-use utensils and scrapped toys are just some of the throw-away items that have been given a new life at a zero-waste workshop in Taipei.

Customers get hands-on experience in the recycling process, taking plastic waste brought from home, and melting and molding it into a pair of sunglasses within two hours.

"What we are trying to show in the Trash Kitchen is to let you see, feel, touch within minutes how this process can actually work without secondary pollution, and you can actually turn it into something of value directly in front of you," Arthur Huang, founder of Miniwiz, the company that runs the workshop, told Reuters.

The Taiwan company also produces tiles, bricks, hangers and other daily necessities from plastic and organic waste, using a "miniTrashpresso", a machine it developed in 2017, Huang said.

Kora Hsieh, editor-in-chief for fashion magazine Harper's Bazaar Taiwan, said the sunglasses project is a good initiative to promote sustainable fashion.

"I think environmental protection and fashion still have a long way to go. As for consumers, it is important for them to get first-hand experience, so a workshop like this is very helpful," she said.

Participants said the workshop inspired them to think twice about producing trash and pay more attention to reusable items.

"I have two children. I need to think about their future," said business owner Debbie Wu, 40.

"If you throw away trash without thinking, you kick the problem down the road. So if everyone can do their best, recycle and use less plastic, that will make a big difference," Wu said.

Taiwan produced a record 11.58 million metric tons of waste in 2023, including 6.27 million tons of recyclable trash, according to data from the Ministry of Environment.



LVMH Third-Quarter Sales Fall 3% as China Weighs

Logo of Dior brand is seen outside a Dior store in Paris, France, January 27, 2020. (Reuters)
Logo of Dior brand is seen outside a Dior store in Paris, France, January 27, 2020. (Reuters)
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LVMH Third-Quarter Sales Fall 3% as China Weighs

Logo of Dior brand is seen outside a Dior store in Paris, France, January 27, 2020. (Reuters)
Logo of Dior brand is seen outside a Dior store in Paris, France, January 27, 2020. (Reuters)

French luxury giant LVMH reported a 3% fall in third-quarter sales on Tuesday, its first decline in quarterly sales since the pandemic, as rising prices and economic uncertainty held back shoppers.

Revenue for the world's biggest luxury group was 19.08 billion euros ($20.8 billion) for the three months ending in September, a 3% fall on an organic basis, stripping out the effect of currencies, acquisitions and divestitures.

The figure missed a consensus estimate of 2% organic growth, according to Barclays.

The numbers will offer little reassurance to jittery investors who already had low expectations for the quarter.

The fashion and leather goods division, home to Louis Vuitton and Dior labels, reported a decline of 5%, well below consensus expectations for 4% growth, and the first decline for the business since 2020 during the height of the pandemic.

Fashion and leather goods comprise almost half of LVMH revenue and nearly three-quarters of its recurring profit.

Investors have grown nervous about the luxury goods sector since a post-pandemic spending spree lost momentum last year, with Chinese appetite for high end fashion a major source of concern. The country's property crisis has weighed on shoppers' confidence, and hopes that government stimulus measures could quickly reignite enthusiasm for high-end merchandise have yet to be fulfilled.

UBS has predicted that the third quarter will be the worst for the sector in four years, with a 1% decline in organic sales year-on-year.