Loop Lab Explores Material Circularity at RISD

An Exciting Glimpse into a More Sustainable Campus

Looking to order materials? Fill out the order form here!

In the fall of 2025 Nature Lab launched Loop Lab, a pilot project exploring new possibilities for material circularity on our campus. Funded by a generous $100,000 grant from the Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation, Loop Lab is an ambitious collaboration that turns RISD’s own waste streams into raw materials for creative practice.

This initiative brings together diverse talents and facilities across departments. We are focusing in this pilot run on collecting waste paper and paper-based materials from around campus, along with muslin offcuts from the Apparel Design department. The Nature Lab has also partnered with Printmaking to share use of their papermaking studio and Second Life Exchange to process and redistribute the materials. Over the summer, student assistants worked hands-on with Faculty Liaison and Project Coordinator Haley MacKeil (EFS) to convert spring’s collected waste into reusable base materials and forms. They’ve also been documenting novel methods of making, sharing insights into the design potential of recycled matter. These discarded materials are being transformed into new paper, slurries, bricks and clays—ready for experimentation in both analog and digital fabrication, including laser cutting and 3D printing.

Loop Lab offers an exciting glimpse into a more sustainable, self-sufficient campus—where what’s old becomes new again, and waste is just the beginning of the next idea. These materials will be made available to students at no charge through Second Life. Online resources as well as a series of Fall workshops will help students learn to work with them using both traditional and novel fabrication techniques.

Looking to get involved? Materials ordered through Second Life Exchange by Wednesdays at noon will be available for pickup every Friday. Click HERE or above to access the order form. And keep an eye on our materials collection page, where we'll soon be sharing some of the many things you can make with these materials.

Looking for Inspiration?

Explore the many methods for working with materials made available through Loop Lab.

Processes include:
Vacuum Forming with Paper
Sheet Forming
Liquid Paper Extrusions
Foams and Leathers

Recipes and further information on these material possibilities forthcoming; check back soon!

Get Involved: Material Donations

In this pilot, we want to involve as many departments on campus as we want to participate. We are currently working with the current departments: Apparel, Graphic Design, Experimental & Foundation Studies, Printmaking.

Here are some of the materials we have been collecting and processing: chipboard, newsprint, drawing and computer paper, matte board, cardboard, colored cardstock, natural fiber fabrics, and more! We are not able to take donations combined with hot glue, acrylics, staples, tape, wire or other metal/plastic-based materials or constructions that will make collection and processing difficult.

We also want to first encourage donations of usable drawing pads, paper or other materials to Second Life Exchange first, via bins at the Design Center, and to our initiative next.

Get Involved: Making with Loop Lab

Want to share what you’ve made with Loop Lab’s available materials, recipes, and files? Tag us #risdlooplab on Instagram or email us with images and description. We’d love to hear from you and feature your research and works!

Further questions? Email biomaterials@risd.edu with subject line: "Loop Lab."

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The RISD Nature Lab is an EPSCoR|C-AIM Core Research Facility supported by the National Science Foundation under Cooperative Agreement #OIA-1655221 and EAGER Grant Award #1723559. ​​​Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed on this site are those of the Nature Lab and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.​

© 2025 Edna W. Lawrence Nature Lab at Rhode Island School of Design