Tag Archives: Made by Destruction

Made by Destruction recycles trash into usable treasures

I’m a big fan of shows like How It’s Made and Food Factory, two programs that go behind-the-scenes to show how all manner of things are created, from everyday items we use to the food we put on our plate.

But while those programs spotlight the creation of things from base materials, Made by Destruction comes at it from a different angle. Created by Toronto’s Yap Films, the folks behind Close Up Kings, Dig WW2 and Battle Factory, Made by Destruction—airing back-to-back episodes beginning Monday on Discovery—takes cast-off items and turns them into something else via recycling.

Mondays debut begins with the lowly photocopier. As technology surges forth in that industry, old models are being broken down to create the most unlikely of objects: trumpets. Sims Recycling Solutions in California goes through the painstaking process of breaking down office-size copies into its component parts.

Using cool CGI and engaging narration, Destruction outlines how defunct machines are shredded to extract the copper hidden in the power supply and motor casings, netting about five pounds of the metal. It’s fascinating to watch how a heavy-duty conveyor belt, series of shredders, magnets and vibrating meshes extracts the minute coils of copper collected, loaded into shipping containers and transported to Olin Brass in Illinois, where the instruments are created. Once there, 70 percent recycled copper is mixed with zinc to make brass cast bars. The bars are transformed into thin sheets, wrapped and sent to S.E. Shires in Massachusetts, where the final product is made.

Other stories featured in the first half-hour show how companies in Denmark and the Netherlands team to transform potatoes into biodegradable egg cartons, and a U.S. company turns empty plastic milk jugs into park benches.

All three stories—and the series overall—show the truly interesting journey old items go through to create new things. I’ll be tuning in.

Made by Destruction airs back-to-back episodes on Mondays at 7 p.m. ET on Discovery.

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New original Canadian series Made by Destruction debuts Monday, July 4 on Discovery

From a media release:

As the saying goes: “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” This old adage rings true for Discovery’s newest original Canadian series MADE BY DESTRUCTION, airing back-to-back episodes on Mondays at 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. ET beginning July 4. Produced for Discovery Canada by yap films, and in association with Science U.S., the unique series gives viewers the inside scoop on how everyday objects are pulled from the trash, destroyed, transformed by technology, and reborn into new and useable items, exclusively on Discovery.

MADE BY DESTRCUTION reveals the step-by-step process of how commonplace and often dismissed objects are used to create new, useable products in factories all around the world by using innovative technology and inventive design. The series showcases how everyday objects are destroyed and re-manufactured, proving a product’s origin can be just as exciting and interesting as the item itself.

In the first episode, discarded photocopiers are shredded, their copper combined with a dash of zinc, before they are sent to a nearby foundry to be melted into brass. The brass is then heated, melted, and shaped into one of the most iconic musical instruments in the world: the trumpet.

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