The collection and recycling of packaging is financed by the companies that market packaged products in the Netherlands. They do this by paying a levy on their packaging to Afvalfonds Verpakkingen (the Packaging Waste Fund), which reimburses the costs incurred for the collection and recycling of household packaging waste.
In order to stimulate cooperation and innovation in the field of waste recycling, the Packaging Waste Fund puts organizations that operate and innovate in this chain in the limelight with the Afvalfonds Verpakkingen Awards, together with its implementing organizations Nederland Schoon, Nedvang b.v. and the Knowledge Institute Sustainable Packaging (KIDV). We got the assignment to create the design for the award.
Packaging waste streams consists of five main categories: plastic, paper, cans, wood and glass. All these streams are equally important but fundamentally different in properties so that making an award with all these materials in one object is complex.
Afvalfonds Verpakkingen is a “Leader brand”, so the idea of an award fits her identity well. But then the award also had to have something stately, something timeless, something iconic to fit this identity.
Instead of making a choice in regarding the five waste streams, we started working with all these waste materials for the design of the award. And we therefore looked for a way to process these five streams into 1 design.
After a number of different designs, the choice was made for the ring, which symbolizes the circular process. In this ring the five types of waste materials were still visible. We did not want to make the types of waste more beautiful than they are, but rather recognizable as waste and use their “natural beauty”..
First of all, we developed the plate material from which we could make the rings for the awards. This plate material was then sawn into separate ring-parts.
Finally the ring-parts were put together. The finish is made so tight that it looks like one closed ring to the eye. And that makes this award for Afvalfonds Verpakkingen not only beautiful to see, but also leaves the viewer a little amazed.
After making the first models, we were able to continue producing all the awards. Any awards will always be unique because the inside of each award is never the same.
Sven Noordhoek
E. sven@wastecraft.nl
M.+31 (0)6 15 86 53 97