Plastic is considered a cheap material, which is why we quickly throw it away. With all its consequences. We now realize the urgency of plastic as an environmental problem, but at the same time it is hard to imagine a world without plastic. Think of applications in the medical field, in the field of electricity, in cars and aircrafts and in household appliances.
Designers can show us the way to look at plastic differently. When developing alternatives. By designing in such a way that plastic products last longer and are easier to separate and therefore easier to recycle. In devising methods and systems to collect plastic in a meaningful way. When reusing and upcycling plastic in new products. And certainly also when creating (emotional) value so that users experience plastic differently.
Yksi Expo will focus entirely on this theme until the end of 2022. With constantly changing exhibitions, lectures, workshops and film evenings, covering the entire chain. And under the name Rethinking Plastic Academy, students from various design courses will work on the subject of plastic.
From September 2020, also during Dutch Design Week 2020, the exhibition Rethinking Plastic at Yksi Expo will show many surprising examples. From leek waste for packaging lamb’s lettuce to mealworms that eat polystyrene foam and convert it into protein. From a fully circular bicycle made of plastic to a plastic-like material made from discarded egg and nut shells. And from beautiful vases made from cigarette filters to handcrafted PVC waste.
Rethinking Plastc is a collaboration of Yksi Connect, Yksi Expo, Searious Business and Dutch Design Foundation. With the support of Stichting Stokroos en Cultuur Eindhoven, Oerlemans Packaging Group, Moonen Packaging, Federation of the Dutch Rubber and Plastics Industry (NRK). Participants in the Rethinking Plastic Academy are: Koning Willem I College, Maastricht Academy of Fine Arts and Design (Mafad) and Design Academy Eindhoven, Fontys Expertise Center for Circular Transition.
