Africa has long been known for upcycling – the creation of new goods from salvage ones – as part of daily life, for informal reuse of scrap materials in a way that increases the value of the material. Of late, however, African designers and architects working in formal markets are upcycling waste and creating high quality and eco-friendly products.
The disposal of rubber waste is a serious ecological problem and upcycling tires has proven to have a great positive impact on the environment. Founded by architect Ibrahim Abougendy, Mobikya is a green interior design studio and firm that up-cycles old rubber tires into furniture.
“Our goal is to gather tires end-to-end from clients, and involve them in the process of exchanging their wastes with products,” Abougendy says.