Shanghai Riverside gives recycled bottles new lease on life

SHINE | 26-Apr-2021 | By Yang Jian

Plastic bottles can be a source of pollution or art creations and stylish commodities, depending on the way of recycling and innovation. An aesthetic service station and art exhibition was launched at the X Tower Innovation Park in Putuo District’s Changshou Road Subdistrict on April 22, World Earth Day, to showcase how waste bottles can be recycled and given a new lease on life.

The exhibition, themed “Recycle Me and See You Around,” was jointly launched by Coca-Cola China, the Changshou Road Subdistrict and Shanghai Daily, and will be open to the public for a year along Suzhou Creek. The waterfront station is comprised of three innovative art installations titled “Recycle Me,” “See You Around” and “I’m Back.” They display the sustainable life cycle of the bottles — from plastic, PET particles and fabrics to clothes and other daily products. The station enables visitors to touch the recyclable materials to promote a sustainable lifestyle and new garbage-sorting measures at the community level, according to the organizers. “The community station will not only become a recreational site for people, but also a place to acquire environmental protection knowledge and art inspiration,” said Zhao Ping, Party secretary of the subdistrict. The “Recycle Me” installation is a recycling bin for more than 7,000 plastic bottles. It encourages the public to flatten the bottles before dumping them into the bins. “See You Around,” a nearby transparent bench, displays PET particles recycled from more than 900 bottles and fabrics from over 1,200 plastic bottles.

Zhao noted that social governance in the downtown areas of international cities should respond to public demands, reach higher standards and invite more people to participate. “Through the event, the Changshou Road Subdistrict aims to become a platform to collaborate with multinational companies and promote local communities globally,” Zhao told the forum. “The subdistrict can also become an important outlet to tell China’s community stories to the world.” Putuo District has the longest and most zigzag downtown section of Suzhou Creek, known as the 18 bays, featuring many of China’s earliest national industries. Most of the heritages have been preserved in the Changshou subdistrict. The waterfront section near X Tower Innovation Park, known as Baocheng Bay, was home to a fifth of China’s earliest textile factories dating back to the 1920s. After 1949, the Shanghai No. 1, 6 and 7 cotton factories were located on the waterfront, along with a military warehouse for quilts and uniforms. The site was dubbed the “cradle of China’s textile industry.” X Tower Innovation Park was developed from a century-old military warehouse, with most of its main structures preserved. The park, redesigned by Italian designer Per Erik Bjornsen, is now home to about 100 cultural industry startups. The original cargo elevators have been preserved, and a former watchtower at the site offers visitors a panoramic view of the scenery along the creek.