The award for the best innovations on plastic reuse at international level in Milan. From textiles to packaging: what will be the winning ideas? For three years Rossana Orlandi, a leading figure in international design, has been proposing an open challenge to creatives from all over the world: to give new life to plastic, but with style. The Ro Plastic Prize is now in its third edition and promotes a vision of guiltless plastic, that is, a guilt-free use of plastic. How? Thanks to a responsible reuse! Let's find out more about this initiative and meet its founder. WHAT IS THE RO PLASTIC PRIZE? The Ro Plastic Prize 2021 is the third edition of an international design competition that focuses on the creative reuse of plastic. It was Rossana Orlandi who kicked off this initiative by giving it space in her personal gallery in Milan and calling upon a jury of the highest level of international fame. The idea of the competition is that plastic is not "evil" but that it should be used in the right way, so the initiative wants to give as many lives as possible to this material through the design of recycling . The competition wants to lead to reflect on the use of plastic and how to use it in the correct way. The philosophy behind it is that of guiltless plastic . Let's find out what it is. GUILTLESS PLASTIC: PLASTIC WITHOUT GUILT The term "guiltless plastic" literally means: "plastic without guilt". The first step to solve the problem of plastic pollution is to understand its nature. It doesn't make sense to imagine a world without plastic, rather it makes sense to use this material for long-lasting uses. The problem is the abuse, the disposable, the misuse. The contest wants to promote a point of view that balances this vision by rewarding a reuse of plastic by putting this material at the service of design in creating long-lasting objects. THE CATEGORIES OF THE RO PLASTIC PRIZE 2021 The Ro Plastic Prize contest aims to promote the recycling of plastic at 360°, for this reason it is structured in four categories that reward different areas. Here are which ones: Design Rewards those who will give a circular life to a plastic product so as to include recycled plastic in any area of our lives. Textile Rewards those who will propose fabrics containing recycled plastics cleaned of all toxic substances and that can overcome health regulations and a search for style. Packaging Rewards packaging created from recycled plastics in order to give new life to the material in one of the areas where it is most often wasted. Conscious Innovation Project Awards companies that want to raise awareness of the problem of plastic, so who invests and experiments campaigns with this purpose. WHO IS ROSSANA ORLANDI? Who is the mind behind this initiative? Rossana Orlandi, today a point of reference in the world of design, international guru and influencer in the sector. She was born in Varese and studied at the Istituto Marangoni in Milan. Her classmate? No less than Moschino. After his studies, he worked in the fashion world for years for brands such as Donna Karan and Giorgio Armani. It was in 2002 that he decided to open his own personal design gallery to turn his passion, his dream, into reality. In the 12 rooms of the Milanese gallery there are no defined criteria other than Orlandi's personal taste and inspiration. There the designer devotes herself to discovering talents, giving space to brilliant minds, hosting emerging artists or those of international fame. She puts creative realities into dialogue according to her own personal judgment. The Ro Plastic Prize was born from this hotbed of creativity and genius together. All that remains is to visit the gallery. WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR US? We fully embrace the concept of "guiltless plastic" . For us, plastic is a precious material when used intelligently. What does it mean to say? It means first of all not to demonize plastic. Right now everyone is waging war on plastic, generically speaking. Plastic-free, no-plastic slogans are becoming popular and a "fashion message" for many brands. Plastic is an important material in our economy and daily life. We should be able to distinguish between good and smart plastic and useless plastic . And act accordingly. Properly used plastic helps reduce food waste, the use of plastic has reduced fuel consumption of cars and airplanes by replacing heavier materials, and many medical and life-saving devices use plastic. The problem is the excessive and unnecessary consumption of plastic where it can be avoided, and with little effort. And while we can avoid plastic when we don't need it, we must all commit to reusing it where we can. That's exactly what we strive for every day: remove it where it's not needed, for example to carry a lot of water that we can add from our tap (as we did for example for our spray cleaners) and use 100% recycled where it's useful (as we did for example for our 100% recycled plastic solids holders from Bergamo's recycling collection).
