where we get our waste from

In every piece we create, there’s a story, of a street, a café, a person. At Blast Studio, we collect and transform local waste, like coffee cups and takeaway packaging, into unique architectural boards. We stay inside the city, close to where waste is produced, to reduce emissions and to give form to the rhythms of urban life. Waste isn’t anonymous, it tells a story. And we believe design should honour that.

From Cafés to a Tonne a Month

We began by picking up used coffee cups ourselves from local cafés in West London — places like Blake and Happy Sky Bakery. Back then, we used under 100 kilograms of waste each month, mostly experimenting with our process as designers. But when we developed our board product, everything changed. Orders came in, and our demand for material grew quickly.

That’s when we partnered with First Mile, a waste management company located just down the road from our studio. Their team, and especially Radu, their kind and resourceful site manager, helped us set up a partnership that still runs today. First Mile collects cups from across North London and delivers them directly to us. Now, we process close to one tonne of waste every month — and we often connect our clients with First Mile to help them set up cup collection streams of their own.

The Local Loop: Keeping Waste Close

Our studio is small, efficient, and rooted in North London — a deliberate decision. Cities are where the waste is, and most of our projects are based in cities too. By keeping our production process local, we eliminate unnecessary transport and make the most of the waste around us.

There’s a deeper meaning behind this choice too. In the past, villages were built with local stone or clay, giving each place a unique material identity. We believe cities deserve the same — not through traditional resources, but through what they discard. Coffee cups, packaging, branded paper — each type of waste reflects a community. When we design with it, we’re designing with place.

Story in Every Panel: Happy Sky Bakery

One of our favourite collaborations was with TMTO Architecture working on the Happy Sky Bakery, a Japanese café in London run by Motoko, a chef trained in France. Kazuya Ogino from TMTO Architecture came to see with a vision: to create a space that embraced the Japanese philosophy of beauty in imperfection.

We collected the client café’s used coffee cups and takeaway packaging and transformed them into wall panels and a counter bar. Because the waste stream was small and mixed, the colour and texture of each panel turned out different — just as she wanted. “Perfect imperfection,” she said. She chose to preserve the natural tone of the material, allowing the variability of the waste to shape the design. The result was stunning — layered, organic, and unmistakably hers.

Colour from Content: Collaborations with Brands

Every waste stream is different. Whether it’s a small café or a heritage company, our collaborators love that their waste becomes part of the final design. In fact, many of them visit the studio during the last stage to see their material transformed. We see it as a circular process — not just in terms of ecology, but of meaning.

Want to Tell Your Own Story?

Whether you’re a café, a developer, or a designer — your waste has potential. Our boards aren’t just sustainable. They’re expressive, personal, and rooted in places.

Let’s turn your waste into something beautiful!