An Eiffel Tower replica made entirely out of recycled ocean waste

A mini Eiffel Tower, made entirely out of recycled ocean waste, has been erected near Lake Most in north Bohemia. 

The recycled replica will be one of the centrepieces of the Olympic Festival taking place on the shores of Czech’s largest pit lake during the Games.

800,000 recycled plastic bottles

Standing 12.5 metres tall and made out of approximately 800,000 recycled plastic bottles, this Eiffel Tower translates into 1.3 tonnes of ocean waste, manufactured by the Czech start-up, 3DDen. 

The replica consists of more than 1,500 separate pieces, which were manufactured and partially assembled at the company’s workshop in Prague before then being transported to Lake Most, where the festival will take place.

Specially-made technology

The Czech start-up created the replica using a 3D printer, and to achieve this, experts from 3DDen had to invent special technology to process the ocean plastic into 3D printer filament.

Jan Hrebabecky, the CEO of 3DDen, explained this technology stating, “We call it OPET and it is plastic fished out of the ocean. You can’t tell at first glance or by touch that it is recycled plastic from seawater.”

Jan added that “The difference only becomes apparent during the printing process,” which he states “requires very specific conditions for flow, temperature and cooling.” 

The CEO stopped himself from revealing anymore as “that’s our production secret”, he says.

Six month learning process

A developer at 3DDen says it took them about six months to learn how to work with the material, which is softer than regular plastic, and more difficult to process. 

Czech Olympic Festival

The replica of Paris’ Eiffel Tower was constructed for Czech’s Olympic Festival, which is running through the Paris Olympics.

Visitors of the Czech Festival can try out various sports, enjoy food and drinks and support their Czech athletes performing at the Paris Olympics on two big screens.