From ‘0% fat’ products and cheaper fatty takeaways, to countries like Japan implementing a ‘fat tax’, (a tax imposed on its people if they had a larger than normal waste size), fat has had a complex recent history. There is no evolutionary mechanism to deal with the abundance of consumption. Fat has found itself in an uncharted territory.

The aim of FATCONOMY is to challenge this territory, opening a material investigation into fat as a sustainable and durable bio-material that protects and adapts in myriad hostile climates. This investigation is brought to life in a series of short films, delving deep into the restaurant waste system, understanding what happens to the waste fats and oils and what microeconomies benefit from this waste stream.

This exploration of fat waste systems hopes to make one aware, when resources are finite, that cross collaboration, merging industries and creative connections can build, harvest and innovate towards a better, more transparent connected system model, that makes use of every waste stream within local boundaries.