Environmental charity A Plastic Planet has launched an online platform to help architects and designers source plastic-free materials for their projects and avoid the “minefield of misinformation” around more sustainable alternatives.
Called PlasticFree, the subscription-based service provides users with in-depth reports on more than 100 plastic alternatives, offering key insights into their properties, production and sourcing.
Part material library, part design tool, the platform also highlights case studies on how these materials are already being turned into products across five different continents and allows users to collate them into Pinterest-style mood boards for their projects. The ultimate aim, according to A Plastic Planet, is to “help designers and business leaders eradicate one trillion pieces of plastic waste from the global economy by 2025”.
PlasticFree is the result of more than two years of research and development in collaboration with a 40-strong council of scientists, business leaders and industry figureheads including Stirling Prize-winner David Chipperfield, designer Tom Dixon and curator Aric Chen (Hahn, 2023).
PlasticFree’s database, which will be constantly updated, focuses on the sectors that currently use the most plastic – namely packaging and textiles, with buildings and construction set to be added later this year.
It features raw materials such as bamboo and cork, alongside more specific innovations such as Great Wrap’s potato-based cling film and Living Ink’s algae ink.
Some of these materials – like bioplastics and recycled plastics – are merely “transitional” and, according to Sutherland, represent “a foot on a better path” rather than a viable solution to plastic pollution (Hahn, 2023).
Personal notes:
It was an excellent surprise to find this article because PlasticFree results from years of research in materials synthesized into a tool to facilitate the transition from conventional materials to new ones. This library or material platform is a step towards change. It will allow every professional access to information to choose suitable material for their design or project. Now it is necessary to make use of PlasticFree to know the database.
Hahn, J. (2023, January 13). Plasticfree is a database of over 100 plastic alternatives for designers and architects. Dezeen. Retrieved January 15, 2023, from https://www.dezeen.com/2023/01/13/plasticfree-materials-database-a-plastic-planet/
