Innovative Orange Juicer 3D Prints Bioplastic Cups Out Of Leftover Orange Peels

Who doesn’t love a glass of freshly-squeezed orange juice? The design firm Carlo Ratti Associati, thought about taking the orange juicer to a next level and created this amazing machine that transforms the leftover peels into cups.
How does the machine work exactly? It used 3D print technology and transforms the orange peels into bioplastic cups, recycling the leftovers.
Their prototype juice bar is called Feel the Peel, and once the juice is squeezed out the peels are turned into biodegradable cups from which you can then drink right away. The squeezer was designed in partnership with Eni, a global energy company, has a high of 10-foot and can store up to 1,500 oranges.
The 3D printer is in the base of the squeezer and once the peels stack up at the bottom of the machine, they are dried and milled to be transformed into an orange dust. This dust is then mixed with polylactic acid and transformed into bioplastic.
After this process, the material is heated, melted and shaped by the 3D printer into orange cups. This is the technology of the future; one in which we reuse the waste we produce and transform it into a new item by creating a product of a circular economic system.

Italian design office CRA – Carlo Ratti Associati has developed an innovative juice bar that turns leftover orange peels into disposable bioplastic cups.