A 3D-printed lamp made from orange peels

Italian designers hope the lamp will inspire designers to repurpose food waste to create eco-friendly designs that are both beautiful and functional

Spotted: The Milan-based startup Krill Design is using Sicilian orange peels to print lamps that can be composted at the end of their lifespan. 

The Italian design studio was founded in 2018 and has been developing a number of circular design products and biomaterials since. 

The startup uses 3D technology to print the lamps, with each Ohmie lamp requiring the discarded peels of two or three oranges. The peels are sourced from a family-owned Sicilian food producer. The startup says that they decided to use orange peels because of the citrus’s ubiquity in Sicily. 

After a process of researching materials, the brand found success in mixing ground dried orange peels with a biopolymeric base made from vegetable starch to create pellets. The orange filament is then extruded from the pellets and used within the 3D printing process, according to Dezeen, who interviewed Krill. 

The 3D printer uses a technique called “Vase Mode”, in which it deposits one single melted filament of biomaterial in a continuous spiral-like movement, creating a ribbed feel. The result is a velvety and sturdy material that retains an orange-skin pattern. By using a 3D printed method to create the lamps, unnecessary waste is avoided and production can also take place on demand. 

The Ohmie lamp is 23-centimetres-tall and designed to reflect its origins with a patterned surface, orangey smell and vibrant colour. Whilst Krill believes to have developed the right formula, the material’s colour is still under improvement, they say.  

After its lifecycle, the lamp can be added to the household’s organic waste, and hopefully turned either into compost or biofuel. 

“We believe there should not be a distinction between “Sustainable Design” and “Normal Design”, but rather that Design should be sustainable by default: this is the first step toward a Design Revolution, to make practices conscious, materials restored and Sustainable Circular Design the norm,” says Krill.  

The brand aims to start production in October and begin shipping by November of this year. 

Explore more: Architecture & Design Innovations | Sustainability Innovations