The best recycled plastics product

The 2015 Epro Awards final, sponsored by Corepla (the Italian consortium for the collection and recycling of plastic packages) took place at IdentiPlast conference in Rome on April 29. A panel consisting of representatives of Epro, PlasticsEurope, PRE, Eupc and ACR+ from across Europe assessed the entries and prequalified three participants for Rome, where the final ranking from 1 to 3 was made by the audience. In the end, the final choice was on the The HÅG Capisco Office Chair from Norway.

Since its beginning in 2009, the key objective of the Epro Awards has always been to raise awareness of the value and versatility of postconsumer or postindustrial plastics, thereby promoting the opportunity to recycle end-of-life plastics and also recognising their value as a resource. Meanwhile, the competition has registered nearly 180 entries from 25 countries and witnessed an increased range of applications for recycled plastics.

The HÅG Capisco office chair by Scandinavian Business Seating (based in Oslo, Norway) won the first prize as the “Best Recycled Product” during this 2015 awards competition.

The railway plastics ties from the German PAV & Co won the second prize. This new, sustainable product is made of 85-65% recycled HDPE and of 15-35% glass fibre.

The Eco Potagator from UK-based ashortwalk, an ecological and neat growing pot manufactured from postconsumer packaging, was elected at the third place.

Epro’s co-chairman Francis Huysman explains the idea behind the “Best Recycled Product” contest: “Plastic packaging design, improved collection schemes, advances in sorting technology together with a greater range of reprocessing opportunities and applications mean that the need to send many plastics to landfill is gradually decreasing. Epro believe that one of the most important ways of achieving increased recycling is to raise the awareness of the products made from recycled plastics packaging, and by doing so, promoting the use of recycled plastics”.

The 22 entries of the 2015 Epro awards competition fit into a wide variety of applications ranging from different kinds of innovative packaging over neat and handy consumer goods to functional high-scale industrial products. Various plastics types were also represented.

(In the picture, from the left: Giorgio Quagliuolo, president of Corepla - sponsor of the contest - Laura Fouilland, environmental advisor, Atle Thiis-Messel, vice president environment at Scandinavian Business Seating, and Peter Sundt, general secretary of Epro)