On 27 May, we announced the 85 nominees of the What Design Can Do No Waste Challenge. During the open call, creatives submitted ideas responding to at least one of three design briefs, each one tackling a different aspect of our take-make-waste economy. Participants applied to either the Global track or to specific city tracks aimed at finding solutions in Amsterdam, Delhi, México City, Nairobi, São Paulo & Rio and Tokyo. After a rigorous selection process, 29 outstanding projects were nominated for the Global track, which was open to all innovators around the world. Take a closer look at the shortlist, below.
TAKE LESS
The following nominees responded to the first design brief, which focuses on the root causes that are fueling our waste problem. It suggests questions like: How can we consume more mindfully and inspire a shift in societal habits and values? Could design help us envision alternatives to buying and owning products?
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The Bagless CordSUBMITTED BY: Bor Klemenc Mencin (Slovenia) | STRATEGY: PRODUCTSThe bagless cord is an ergonomic, recyclable alternative to the plastic bag. It transports boxed goods with the same convenience, but at a fraction of the financial and environmental costs. |
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SonkeSUBMITTED BY: Eben de Jongh (South Africa) | STRATEGY: PRODUCTS, SpaceSSonke designs, manufactures and manages automated refill stations for fast-moving consumer goods, like dishwashing liquid and cooking oil. This project is also tagged as Brief 2: Make Better. |
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Metavogue: your digital fashionSUBMITTED BY: Alice Sueko Müller (Switzerland) | STRATEGY: ProductS, ServiceS OR SystemSMETAVOGUE is the first digital fashion closet, marketplace and economy that allows individuals to buy, wear and sell digital fashion as an alternative to physical fashion consumption. |
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Reparar.org V2.0SUBMITTED BY: Melina Scioli (Argentina) | STRATEGY: COMMUNICATIONS, SERVICES OR SYSTEMSAn online repair directory which makes it easy to find local repairers, to promote a culture of care and the reduction of waste. This project is also tagged as Brief 3: Handle Smarter. |
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WildfindingSUBMITTED BY: Emily Whiteside (UK) | STRATEGY: COMMUNICATIONS, SPACESA wild wayfinding system encouraging people to forage for their food, reduce waste and consume more mindfully. |
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Hack Your ClosetSUBMITTED BY: Mikaela Larsell Ayesa (Sweden) | STRATEGY: Services or SystemsHack Your Closet prolongs the life of second-hand, unsold and deadstock clothing by circulating them between its customers through a subscription service. This project is also tagged as Brief 3: Handle Smarter. |
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Clothing LoopSUBMITTED BY: Lena Hartog (Netherlands) | STRATEGY: Services or SystemsThe Clothing Loop makes it easy and fun to share bags of pre-loved clothes by connecting people in local communities. |
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Waste WatchersSUBMITTED BY: Alina Sidbrant (Ireland) | STRATEGY: Communications, Products, Services or SystemsA grassroots movement to fight excessive plastic packaging, mobilizing consumers to collect data as they shop, and reporting the results to the manufacturers responsible. This project is also tagged as Brief 2: Make Better. |
MAKE BETTER
The following nominees responded to the second design brief, which focuses on reducing waste through rethinking how things are made and what they are made of. It suggests questions like: How can we encourage the use of more innovative and sustainable materials? Could we redesign the life cycles of products, so that they are more restorative and/or regenerative?
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Modern SynthesisSUBMITTED BY: Jennifer Keane (UK) | STRATEGY: Products, Services or SystemsEmploying microbes to grow customisable and fully circular biomaterials for the fashion industry using local agricultural waste, like those from apple farms. |
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AlgaeingSUBMITTED BY: Karen Wilf (Israel) | STRATEGY: PRODUCTSAlgaeing™️ develops environmentally-friendly textile fibers and dyes, using algae grown in closed-loop vertical farms. |
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Pulp FusionSUBMITTED BY: Guillaume Credoz (Lebanon) | STRATEGY ProductSPulp Fusion is a fully compostable chair made from recycled paper and organic materials that helps the propagation of seeds through guerilla gardening. |
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Fabulous FungiSUBMITTED BY: Ilse Kremer (Netherlands) | STRATEGY: PRODUCTSSynthetic textile dyes cause significant water pollution. This project offers a more sustainable alternative in innovative pigments extracted from various species of fungi. This project is also tagged as Brief 1: Take Less. |
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Oka BiotechnologySUBMITTED BY: Érika Cezarini Cardoso (Brazil) | STRATEGY: Products, Services or SystemsFrom a crunchy edible spoon to a biodegradable seed capsule, we turn litter into life using a circular regenerative model to create bio-packaging. |
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SumoSUBMITTED BY: Luisa Kahlfeldt (Germany) | STRATEGY: PRODUCTSSumo is a washable, reusable cloth diaper specifically engineered to be kinder to the environment, and to your baby’s bottom. It is made from an innovative cellulose-algae fiber called SeaCell. This project is also tagged as Brief 1: Take Less. |
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Forest WoolSUBMITTED BY: Tamara Orjola (Netherlands) | STRATEGY: PRODUCTSForest Wool turns pine needles — an underutilized waste-product of the timber industry — into a high-added value textile fiber. This project is also tagged as Brief 1: Take Less. |
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Werewool Performance FibersSUBMITTED BY: Chui-Lian Lee (USA) | STRATEGY: PRODUCTSWerewool is engineering biodegradable textile fibers with inherent colour and function, resulting in high performance without plastics and water pollution. This project is also tagged as Brief 1: Take Less. |
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Japanese Knotweed ProjectSUBMITTED BY: Marina Belintani (Brazil) | STRATEGY: PRODUCTSThe Japanese knotweed is classified as an invasive species in more than 15 countries. This project reduces the negative impact of this plant by turning it into circular and sustainable materials for different industries. This project is also tagged as Brief 3: Handle Smarter. |
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MapuSUBMITTED BY: Philine von Düszeln (Germany) | STRATEGY: PRODUCTSMapu Preto are sound systems handmade out of clay that reunite traditional crafts and technology through heritage-led-innovation. |
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Flower MatterSUBMITTED BY: Irene Purasachit (Thailand) | STRATEGY: Products, Services or SystemsA flower upcycling hub turning commercial flower waste into environmentally responsible materials such as paper and bio-leather. This project is also tagged as Brief 1: Take Less. |
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Living CoffinSUBMITTED BY: Bob Hendrikx (Netherlands) | STRATEGY: PRODUCTSThe world’s first living coffin: a fully biodegradable casket made out of mycelium fungi, which turns into compost within 45 days. This project is also tagged as Brief 3: Handle Smarter. |
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MarinaTexSUBMITTED BY: Lucy Hughes (UK) | STRATEGY: PRODUCTSA strong, translucent and home-compostable packaging material made from fish waste, providing a planet conscious alternative to flexible plastic film. |
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UnPlastic: Waste is optional!SUBMITTED BY: Francois Schockaert (Netherlands) | STRATEGY: PRODUCTSWe upcycle food production and brewery waste to make new and compostable packaging materials. |
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Bio Orange JuiceSUBMITTED BY: Eduardo del Fraile (Spain) | STRATEGY: ProductsFully compostable packaging for orange juice, made from a polymer subtracted from the orange peel itself. This project is also tagged as Brief 1: Take Less. |
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Vii LabSUBMITTED BY: Clara Davis (Spain) | STRATEGY: SERVICES OR SYSTEMSA 3-dimensional interactive platform specifically designed to educate creators on material science, and encourage them to experiment with circular processes. This project is also tagged as Brief 1: Take Less. |
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#BoCS ToolSUBMITTED BY: Zubin Nayak (Netherlands) | STRATEGY: Services or SystemsThe Business of Climate Solutions tool is a visual way to co-create connections between a vast range of proven, feasible solutions and the vision and capabilities of any company: resulting in climate-positive and future-proof value propositions. |
HANDLE SMARTER
The following nominees responded to the third design brief, which focuses on the so-called ‘end of the line’, and asks for creative ways to redraw it so that all waste is disposed of in a way that’s safe and sustainable. It suggests questions like: How can we better track and manage the different forms of waste we produce? Could we empower people to view and use waste as a resource?
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UWEPA! PlatformSUBMITTED BY: Lucas Sánchez (Colombia) | STRATEGY: Communications, Services or SystemsA ‘phy-gital’ platform that brings together local waste management system stakeholders in Bogotá to help coordinate their efforts and mobilize collective action. This project is also tagged as Brief 1: Take Less. |
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Trash BankSUBMITTED BY: Muhammad Abdullahi (Nigeria) | STRATEGY: Products, Services or SystemsA social enterprise bank that allows people to directly exchange their trash for attractive cash incentives. |
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Echauffement climatiqueSUBMITTED BY: Annabelle Jung (France) | STRATEGY: COMMUNICATIONSPart street football championship, and part clean-up event, this project uses sport to incentivise people to collect garbage in their neighbourhoods and cities. |
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Project BeachBotSUBMITTED BY: Edwin Bos (Netherlands) | STRATEGY: COMMUNICATIONS, SERVICES OR SYSTEMSA human-robot interaction concept to reduce waste in outdoor areas. BeachBots are designed to hunt small litter, and a gaming application allows anyone with a smartphone to contribute to improve its detection algorithm. |
WHAT’S NEXT?
Nominated teams now have the time to improve their submissions before the final jury review in July. Visit our platform for more information about the competition, award package, and to view all the nominees in our project gallery.