Winner of Plastic Technologies Award 2015 to be announced during PLAST 2015

Innovative, original concepts for quick-consumption or disposable products that exploit the potentials of specific plastics production and conversion technologies: these are the pillars of the second edition of the Plastic Technologies Award, the international competition launched by Promaplast, the organizer of PLAST 2015 (5-9 May, Fiera Milano,Rho) in collaboration with POLI.design, a consortium of the Milan Polytechnic. The names of the projects making it into the finals were released several days ago: EAT&PLAY – Ice cream pack PALINGENESI – Recyclable container ASAP: As Sustainable As Possible – Compostable cup YIN&GNAM – Disposable flatware BIONE PACK – Sugar packet and spoon The 2015 Plastic Technologies Award focuses on the disposal and recycling of products, components and packaging characterized by rapid obsolescence, temporary use or disposability, such as household utensils and the packaging of quick-consumption products. The competition addresses an issue of great current relevance, reflecting on the effects of the unstoppable growth of quick consumption products for daily use in Western cultures. Many of the products, packaging and disposable or temporary components characterizing the new consumption paradigms are designed without considering issues relating to the disposal, which is also inevitably quick, of materials or complexes of materials that are often non-separable or non-recyclable and thus not conducive to proper disposal. Major Italian and foreign companies exhibiting at PLAST 2015 are constantly seeking to develop concrete solutions to the issues of disposal and recycling. One example is NOVAMONT (Hall 9, stand D82), which recently introduced the first completely compostable Italian-made espresso capsule, in collaboration with Lavazza. The capsule will be made of Mater-Bi 3G, the third generation of Mater-Bi, which is characterized by a high percentage of renewable raw materials. After use, the capsule can be put in with the compostables and sent to industrial composting processes just like loose coffee grounds. And Novamont is not alone: in collaboration with its partners, API (Hall 9, stand C41) has created a new 100% compostable and biodegradable mono-use capsule for hot beverages using a compression technology starting from a formulation of API Apinat Bio thermoplastic compounds, which can be processed using the most common conversion technologies to suit a wide range of applications, from footwear to packaging. "The new challenge posed by the Plastic Technologies Award 2015 to designers from all over the world,” stated Mario Maggiani, Managing Director of PROMAPLAST, organizer of PLAST 2015, “is that of conceiving projects that lower disposal impact, exploiting the potentials of production and materials technologies, introducing smart features into the product itself that meet with the needs of prospective consumers. Thus projects that can redevelop the entire sector of products subject to rapid obsolescence or temporary use in a more sustainable way.” The winning projects will be judged by a jury of experts: Francesco Trabucco, Professor of Industrial Design at the Milan Polytechnic School of Design and director of the course “Design for Plastics” (POLI.design); Luciano Galimberti, President of ADI - Associazione per il Disegno Industriale; Matteo Ingaramo, Director of the Poli.design consortium; Mario Maggiani, Managing Director of PROMAPLAST; Claudio Celata, Managing Director of CESAP. After completion of the first phase of competition, the jury assessed the projects both for their innovative content and for their success at exploiting the possibilities and constraints of the given technologies. The finalists chosen for the second phase of the competition will further develop their concepts based on the feedback provided by the jury. The second phase will end with the selection of the winning projects, which will share the overall prize money of 8,000 euros. The initiative is sponsored by the companies Amu), manufacturter of extrusion and thermoforming lines and recycling systems, and Negri Bossi, thermoplastic injection systems, thermo-hardeners and elastomers, both participating in PLAST 2015, and by the trade associations Plastics Europe Italia (plasticseuropeitalia.federchimica.it), an Italian association of plastics producers, and Assocomaplast, Italian Plastics and Rubber Processing Machinery and Moulds Manufacturers’ Association. The prize ceremony will take place on 5 May during the PLAST 2015 inauguration.