As building types go, the recycling plant is among the least glamorous (right up there with salt sheds and strip malls). So the work of Belgian photographer Paul Bulteel is especially refreshing, as it shines a light on the unheralded, gritty beauty of Europe's "super-efficient" recycling plants.
In his new book, Cycle & Recycle, Bulteel captures the "unreal aesthetics" of reuse centers in several European countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, and his native Belgium (which recycles 80 percent of its packaging waste), reports Fast Company. The goal for Bulteel was to take a closer look at the relationship between nature and the built environment or, put another way, the havoc man wreaks and manmade ways meant to mitigate that havoc.
Bulteel has made the rounds at 50 waste management facilities, snapping shots of all sorts of refuse—from latex to paper, glass, and appliances—as it gets processed for reuse. Read more over at Fast Company.
∙ The Hidden Beauty Of Europe's Super-Efficient Recycling Empire [Fast Company]
∙ All Photography coverage [Curbed]