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Our 'Design Strategy' content offers a concise, actionable overview of emerging plastic-free design trends. We examine the current plastic-dominated landscape and inspire you with key case studies and developments to envision what comes next.
This is no truer than with plastic. This fossil fuel-derived polymer is so unlike anything found in nature the earth won’t take it back. Instead, it leaches into the land, with the UNEP saying there is now more plastic in our soils than in our oceans.
And the impacts aren’t inconsequential. Everything we’ve ever created, from foods to fibres, is dependent on the health of our soil, and the chemical make-up of plastic is slowly strangling it.
So why aren’t we working with nature instead of against it, and creating packaging that sits within the greatest recycling system of all time - nature’s own?
The amount of plastic in our soils is estimated to be up to 23 times higher than the plastic in our oceans
of the Earth's soils will be degraded by 2050 according to WEF
Over 6,500 million tonnes of plastic waste has been generated in the last 70 years. Over two thirds of this has been deposited in landfills and natural environments including soils
The beauty industry generates up to 151 million units of packaging every year, most of which are used once then thrown away. Margate-born beauty brand Haeckels knows the impact of this material use and relaunched its skincare line with a plastic-free but plastic-like alternative called Vivomer, which returns to the earth exactly like a fallen branch. Made by Shellworks, Vivomer is derived from microbes and eaten by microbes at the end of its life. The material is almost a like-for-like swap for plastic in functionality, which begs the question - why isn’t everyone using it?
Design consideration: The term compostable gets thrown around within the material world, but its nuances are rarely communicated. Vivomer is home compostable, and would technically degrade in the back garden. Distinguishing between this, industrial composting, and anaerobic composting is key to material adoption.
Based in San Francisco, GaeaStar is tackling the wasteful takeaway packaging industry head-on with its alternative made from simply water, salt, and clay. Inspired by the Indian tradition of Kulhars - terracotta cups that have been used to sell Indian Chai tea for around 5,000 years - the collection of bowls and coffee cups can be crushed in the hand after use, sprinkled on the earth, and sent back to nature harmlessly. Made using additive manufacturing, otherwise known as 3D printing, GaeaStar is bringing the wisdom of the past into the 21st century.
Design consideration: GaeaStar does offer a fully customised solution for brands looking to stand out in the ‘to-go’ food market, but there’s something really appealing about the minimalism of the collection. Can you embrace a pared-back design?
Sock hooks probably aren’t the first things that come to mind when thinking about packaging, but - not unlike the coat hanger - these small bits of plastic are key to selling garments. With millions of pieces of clothing produced each year, it’s safe to say there are millions of sock hooks out there. In lieu of finding new ways to display socks, C&A is replacing its own with ones made from Traceless, a biomaterial made from agricultural waste such as brewery residue that degrades naturally within just a few weeks. A drop-in replacement for plastics, Traceless is truly bio-circular, effortlessly slipping into nature’s own waste stream.
Design consideration: What else could Traceless be used to replace? It comes in granulate form and can be made into flexibles, rigids, adhesives, and even coatings for paper. The possibilities really are endless - they just need to be realised.
Our current model of a circular economy still involves waste - it just takes longer for things to be wasted. Nature’s circularity is a true circle, and forms the blueprint of design we should all be aiming for. While reuse and repurpose will always be key to responsible production, the true test of impact is whether nature wants it back or not.
Human-made plastic recycling systems don’t work, yet they’ve become the ultimate goal of every brand and designer. No brief will ever be answered if recycling is your goal. Our new criteria must be whether it works with nature’s recycling system or not.
Nutrient-rich materials should be borne from the region they’re made in and go back to that same region. There’s no sense in using plant matter that only exists in one area of the world then shipping it to areas that don’t recognise it. Keep things local and the planet will thank you for it.
