Designing in a Circular Economy with PVC

Background

Designing in a Circular Economy was a project run by the BPF's VinylPlus UK Group. The aims of the project were to raise the awareness of the PVC sector within the design community as well as showcase vinyl’s sustainability and cost effective credentials. Through collaboration with the design community, VinylPlus UK also wanted to identify the design opportunities of PVC products at their end of life. 

Working with the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining (IOM3) and the Materials and Design Exchange (MaDE), VinylPlus UK sought to engage designers, manufacturers and materials experts to learn about the properties, applications & sustainability credentials of PVC material. This was done through a 'whitewater' workshop facilitated by MaDE, which involves bringing together different industries to identify possibilities through learning and 'playing' with design. Below is a highlight video of the workshop that took place in 2018:

Following the successful workshop, the 'PVC Redesigned Competition' was born.

PVC Redesigned Competition

The Circular Economy aims to redefine the conventional 'make, sell and discard' model through innovation and careful design to reuse materials for a second life. Such a model goes well beyond conventional recycling but requires novel thinking and careful design to minimise material waste and maximise circularity. The competition aimed to engage the design community to encourage development of new product ideas from PVC products that have reached their end of life. Recycling is well established within the PVC industry (e.g. RecoVinyl), therefore the competition wanted to seek new ideas in the reuse space, taking items and innovating new products without the need for mechanical and/or chemical recycling. 

Following the conclusion of the 2019 competition, the following designs placed first, second and third:

1st Place - Yuna - Designed by Karen Silva

Karen's winning design was praised by the judges for its "excellent concept well explained that clearly demonstrates a need".  The design was ergonomic, saturated in detail and also tackled an important socio-economic issue. With the ability to transport and filter the water all in one product, Karen addressed a key issue for drought-ridden areas whilst approaching it in a truly circular fashion. 

2nd Place - Tectum - Designed by Kristen Tapping

Kristen's second placed design Tectum, a prefabricated PVC roof with  rain catching system, utilised PVC pipe to efficiently store and reuse water whilst providing low-cost roofing. The judges were very impressed with the level of detail in the design and life cycle of the product, as well as the limited rework required.

3rd Place - Nari Menstrual Cup Sanitiser - Helene Benz + team

Helene Benz' Nari Menstrual Cup Sanitiser again took on an important issue in the developing world: access to clean sanitary products for women in these communities. Focusing initally on rural India, the concept allowed for the sanitation of reusable Nari menstrual cups, helping to provide relief for women in rural India whilst providing a second life for PVC products.