Humanium Metal is a brand of
metal made by melting down illegal
firearms
A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions).
The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes c ...
seized in
conflict zones. The creation and distribution of this metal is done through a
marketing campaign called "The Humanium Metal Initiative", started in 2016 by
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
nonprofit organizationIM Swedish Development Partner. The stated objective of the program is to draw attention to issues of
gun violence and contribute toward the ending of
illegal firearms trade. Humanium Metal is used for the creation into non-lethal commodities, such as
wristwatches,
buttons, and
spinning tops
A spinning top, or simply a top, is a toy with a squat body and a sharp point at the bottom, designed to be spun on its vertical axis, balancing on the tip due to the gyroscopic effect.
Once set in motion, a top will usually wobble for a few se ...
, with proceeds returning to violence prevention efforts and support for gun-violence survivors in the areas from which the firearms were seized.
History
The Humanium Metal Initiative was developed by Peter Brune of
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
nonprofit organization IM Swedish Development Partner in partnership with designer Johan Pihl.
The objective of Humanium Metal is "to spread awareness of the devastating impact of illegal firearms and armed violence, as well as generate funds urgently needed to empower people living in conflict-torn societies." The campaign is implemented in conjunction with Swedish
advertising agencies Great Works and Akestam Holst.
Humanium Metal was first produced in November 2016 in
El Salvador
El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...
, where
firearms
A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions).
The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes c ...
seized by the Salvadoran government were converted into one
ton
Ton is the name of any one of several units of measure. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses.
Mainly it describes units of weight. Confusion can arise because ''ton'' can mean
* the long ton, which is 2,240 pounds
...
of metal.
The project has since expanded to
Guatemala
Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
, and, as of 2018, it plans to expand to
Honduras
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...
and
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
.
The program has received endorsements from the
Dalai Lama, former director general of the
International Atomic Energy Agency
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1957 ...
Hans Blix, and
Nobel Peace Prize winner
Desmond Tutu
Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 193126 December 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbishop ...
. The program has also partnered with the
Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
As of end of 2022, the program had destroyed more than 12.000 firearms in El Salvador, Zambia and the US. More than 1,2 Mio. USD have already been channelled to civil society interventions in violence-affected areas.
Production and use
The most common method for producing Humanium Metal is when governments seize illegal firearms and melt down their metal, turning it into
ingots
An ingot is a piece of relatively pure material, usually metal, that is cast into a shape suitable for further processing. In steelmaking, it is the first step among semi-finished casting products. Ingots usually require a second procedure of sha ...
, wire, or pellets.
The metal is 95%
iron, and ingots are then sent to Sweden, where they are reduced to powder that can be used in the production of metal objects. As of 2018, Humanium Metal was priced at about $6.60 per
ounce.
In 2018,
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
-based
watchmaker TRIWA began to market
wristwatches 3D-printed
3D printing or additive manufacturing is the construction of a three-dimensional object from a CAD model or a digital 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is deposited, joined or solidified under computer co ...
with Humanium Metal.
In 2019, the Humanium Metal Initiative partnered with
The Non-Violence Project Foundation to produce small-scale replicas of Swedish artist
Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd
Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd (4 June 1934 – 3 May 2016) was a Swedish painter and sculptor.
He studied with Fernand Léger in Paris 1951 and was a professor of painting at The Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm 1965–1969. In 1974 he was a guest ...
's 1985 sculpture ''
Non-Violence
Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...
''. Other companies have begun to produce
spinning tops
A spinning top, or simply a top, is a toy with a squat body and a sharp point at the bottom, designed to be spun on its vertical axis, balancing on the tip due to the gyroscopic effect.
Once set in motion, a top will usually wobble for a few se ...
,
buttons, and
bracelets made from Humanium Metal. A Good Company has made a limited-edition A Good Humanium Metal pen, 25% of the sales of which goes to support projects tackling violent crime and rebuilding conflicted-afflicted communities in El Salvador.
In 2020,
Scottish
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
artist Frank To created paintings using powdered Humanium Metal mixed with paint.
In December 2020, IM partnered with the Zambian Police Service on the destruction of more than 6,000 firearms.
In 2021, the police department of
Falmouth, Maine publicly destroyed a set of illegal weapons and announced their intention to turn them into Humanium Metal.
Awards
In 2017, the Humanium Metal Initiative won the Grand Prix for Innovation at the
Cannes Lions Festival for Creativity.
In 2018, the program won the advertising category of ''
Fast Company''
's 2018 World Changing Ideas Awards.
References
{{reflist
External links
Humanium Metal websiteInterview with Hans Blix about humanium
Metals
Gun violence