Oil dispenser made from leftovers from the cooking oil industry

The food industry produces secondary materials that have so far received little attention in product design. Katherine Lopez has identified an exciting recyclable material in the form of sunflower seed shells and, in her master’s thesis at the HSD, developed an oil dispenser for sunflower oil from this special resource.

Dispenser made from leftover sunflower oil production

Peruvian designer Katherine Lopez took the current context of food waste in Germany as a starting point for the development of her master’s thesis and, in collaboration with a local sunflower oil producer, searched for significant local waste sources in the region.

She found sunflower seed shells as a possible resource. Building on her previous experience in developing biomaterials from organic waste and conducting tests in the laboratory of the Technical Center of the University of Düsseldorf, two types of 100% biodegradable and oil-resistant biomaterials were developed.

Solio Solid, a solid material based on sunflower seed protein, and Solio Soft, a leather-like material based on agar-agar. Both use sunflower seed shells as fiber and carrier material. Lopez had the idea of ​​using the materials in a product that was linked to the origin of the resource and found what she was looking for in ancient Aztec and Inca cultures.

In both cultures, the sunflower was a kind of status symbol, which was used to distinguish social status, for example. As part of a ceremonial ritual, sunflowers were used and the sunflower oil administered. So it made sense to design a sample set using the shells.

The ritual set for sunflower oil tastings has the lucrative name “Solio”. This is made up of the two Italian words “sole” and “olio”, which mean sun and oil respectively. The set consists of two parts, an oil bottle with a lid and an oil bowl, and two other parts, a single table top and a bread board.

To develop the solid components, 3D printed molds were made using the Solio Solid material and then a hydraulic press was used. The parts were sanded and sealed with sunflower oil as a coating. The mats are made of agar-agar-based organic leather, the Solio Soft material, which was cut with a laser machine and sealed with a heat source at medium temperature.

contact to Katherine Lopez: katoydesign@gmail.com

The master’s thesis was supervised by Diana Drewes. It is part of our exhibitions “Futures. Materials und design of tomorrow” at Grassi Museum from November 21, 2024 to August 24, 2025 and “Material treasures” at Futurium Berlin from May 4, 2024 to June 1, 2027.