Alexa
  • Directory of Taiwan

CNN's 'Call to Earth' features Taiwan entrepreneur

Miniwiz CEO and co-founder Arthur Huang turns trash into treasure

  2062
Miniwiz CEO and co-founder Arthur Huang (center) turns trash into treasure. (Facebook, Arthur Huang photo)

Miniwiz CEO and co-founder Arthur Huang (center) turns trash into treasure. (Facebook, Arthur Huang photo)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — CNN's environmental program "Call to Earth" recently featured the CEO of Taiwanese upcycling company Miniwiz (小智研發), Arthur Huang (黃謙智).

In partnership with Rolex, the program aired a four-minute talk with the architect, engineer, and co-founder of Miniwiz, whose stated aim in life is to make recycled waste valuable and beautiful. The episode with Huang was described as "one man's mission to make treasure out of trash."

So far, there have been 35 installments in the "Call to Earth" series. They include episodes looking at how NASA technology can save the world’s largest sharks and the Argentine biologist who has protected millions of penguins.

The goal of the program is to drive awareness, action, and education on key issues that can preserve the planet, according to its website.

A Harvard University graduate who moved to the U.S. at age 11, Huang returned to his hometown of Taipei and started Miniwiz in 2005. In the video, Huang gives the audience a tour of the trash-into-treasure process.

When the COVID pandemic hit, Miniwiz collaborated with the American Institute Taiwan (AIT) and launched the Modular Adaptable Convertible (MAC) hospital ward in 2020. Most of the materials used in the adaptable, convertible isolation wards are made from recycled aluminum.

In order to further reduce waste, Huang and his team have developed over 1,200 materials made from trash that can be used in construction projects, reported CNN. The company's international clients include Nike and Starbucks.

“We don’t need to create new things,” says Huang on CNN. “We just need to use our ingenuity, innovations, and our good heart and good brain to transform these existing materials into the next generation of products and buildings to power our economy.”