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Local start-up turns recycled plastic bottles into limited-edition SG60 Fortune Merlion collectibles
July 05, 2025
|The Straits Times
From bottles to blind boxes
If you like cute collectibles, but are hesitant about contributing to junk plastic waste, local start-up Unigons has a green concept: Merlion figurines made of recycled plastic bottles in 10 different colourways, all waving their left paws in the style of the Fortune Cat.
For SG60, only 60 pieces of these Fortune Merlion figurines have been crafted. Priced at $118, each 3D-printed Merlion is packaged in a blind box and designed with a pedestal base that doubles as a hidden compartment.
The compartment contains accessories for the Merlion, including six charms engraved with auspicious words in Chinese script, such as wealth and longevity. Any of these charms can be attached to the right paw of the Fortune Merlion.
According to Unigons, each 18cm-tall Merlion required some 30 discarded PET plastic bottles as raw material, many donated by beverage giant Yeo Hiap Seng (Yeo's).
Unigons co-founder Joe Chua, who designed the collectibles, says that PET is among the few plastics that can be recycled into filaments for 3D-printing.
هذه القصة من طبعة July 05, 2025 من The Straits Times.
اشترك في Magzter GOLD للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة، وأكثر من 9000 مجلة وصحيفة.
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