Covestro promotes circular design at International Design Conference
Climate change, resource constraints, waste problems – dealing with global challenges like these require each of us to embrace circular economy as a guiding principle. Design holds the key to transitioning to a circular economy, by eliminating planned obsolescence and keeping products and materials in circulation to reduce the need for extracting new resources.
Covestro recognizes the importance of designing for a circular economy and actively engages designers with circular design concepts that create longer-lasting products, while enabling easy repairs and upgrades throughout their life cycle and promoting resource recovery at end of life. At the virtual IDC (International Design Conference) 2021, Covestro gave a presentation on circular design, calling for immediate actions to adopt circular thinking in the design stage, while also making smart choices about materials which are efficient and circular.
Download the presentation
Learn more about circular design
Covestro supports the designers of tomorrow
Covestro supports future designers through the annual DIP (Design Innovation in Plastics) competition. The competition’s 2021 theme was ‘Design for a Natural World’. Students who participated in the DIP competition were tasked with creating inspiring and novel new products to enhance health and wellbeing, using plastics as the primary material.
The winner of this year’s competition was Pol Blanch from Brunel University with a product which will help reduce pesticide spray drift. Pol Blanch designed his product to help people in the developing world, after being inspired by his interest in agriculture and the rural issue of how to apply pesticides safely to vital crops.
The product, D-Shield, is a semi-translucent, foldable shield that minimizes spray drift, blocking pesticides from drifting during application. The shield, made from low density, heat resistant polypropylene, is designed to be carried by individuals using backpack sprayers, as is often the case in developing countries, where plots are smaller and the expense of agricultural machinery is prohibitive.
At Covestro we firmly believe industrial designers can and should make the world a brighter place.
Materials for Designing the Future
Covestro collaborates with College for Creative Studies (CCS)
Covestro once again teamed up with CCS, challenging students to envision the future intersection of mobility, healthcare, and electronics. Check out what they came up with!
