Bandai Namco's Gundam robots are known for being powerhouses in battle, not for saving the world from pollution. However, a new initiative by the company has resulted in a stunning artistic display showcasing recycling potential. Bandai's giant Gundam sculpture has to be seen to be believed.
When it comes to trash, models would seem to be major culprits of waste. After all, the sprue cards (or runners) serve no purpose beyond holding model pieces together before they are put together. This may have been the case previously, but Bandai could be changing the game for these particular plastic pieces based on a project that was undertaken in Japan.
The Gunpla Recycling Project is a toy recycling event that was hosted by Bandai Namco on November 20 and 21. For six months prior to the event, Gundam's parent company asked fans to drop off their empty sprue cards in designated boxes that were placed throughout Japan. These sprue cards were then used to create a 1:1 scale Gundam head, with remaining ones being used by artists for other installations at the event. The giant Gundam is incredibly detailed and it turns recycling into an artistic endeavor. The results, shared on the BANDAI SPIRITS YouTube channel, are stunning.
Gundam has a rather lengthy history. It began with the anime series, Mobile Suit Gundam, in 1979 - which was created by Hajime Yatate and Yoshiyuki Tomino. It has since inspired numerous anime series, animated films, and over one hundred and fifty manga series, one-shots, and adaptations, as well as an incredibly successful toy line. The Gundam franchise has become massive over the last several decades and the iconic models, called Gunpla, are spawning a new vision with their reused byproducts. There was at least a ton of sprue cards collected, with three thousand being used to create the Gundam head. The collected runners will be recycled - and likely turned into more Gundams.
While this isn't the first plastic recycling initiative by a toy company, it is certainly one of the most impressive. Just this year, LEGO unveiled its first brick made from recycled plastic. Though it is just a prototype, it shows the efforts being made by companies to shift to more sustainable practices - particularly in the toy market. However, there have been other artistic displays with large scales, just like Bandai's. The Washed Ashore Project creates sculptures of marine wildlife, such as sharks, jellyfish, and sea lions out of plastic waste collected from the ocean.
Similarly, the Monterey Bay Aquarium was previously the home of Ethyl the Whale, a sculpture also made from recycled plastic that brings awareness to the ocean's problems with plastic and other human waste products. Ethyl is Guinness World Records' largest recycled plastic sculpture, though she was purchased by Meow Wolf in Santa Fe, New Mexico and is housed at Santa Fe Community College. Bandai Namco's Gundam project joins an impressive group of sculptures that all have the same goal in mind - giving plastic waste new life.
Source: BANDIA SPIRITS
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