Manhattan pop-up bistro made from 100 per cent recyclable materials

The restaurant also serves local ingredients and commonly overlooked food by-products

Spotted: The Zero Waste pop-up Bistro, made entirely from recycled and recyclable materials, was commissioned by The Finnish Cultural Institute in New York. The design was carried out by Harri Koskinen and Linda Bergroth and displayed during the WantedDesign Fair. It has also won a Sustainability Award at the Frame Awards in Amsterdam.

The Bistro was built entirely from recycled food packaging. The furnishings and tableware were also 100 per cent recyclable and came from a variety of partners, predominantly iconic Finnish styles that were selected based on their sustainability.

The food concept was created by Restaurant Nolla, a zero-waste restaurant in Helsinki. Restaurant Nolla aims to use foods that would typically be discarded, to reject food packaging and to minimise waste.

The New York pop-up used local ingredients, along with commonly overlooked food by-products, such as oyster mushrooms and spent grain crumble. In addition to a dining experience, the pop-up event also included workshops and talks on circular economy and zero-waste fashion.

Springwise has covered a growing number of innovations that, like Zero Waste Bistro, are intended to demonstrate the possibilities for sustainability. Recently, these have included a  start-up that recycles Nespresso pods into bicycles and a sustainable chair made from hangers.