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Federal Ecodesign Award also for recycling projects

14 projects received awards. Among them is a piece of seating furniture made with plastic from BASF's ChemCycling project.
 

The Federal Ecodesign Award is the highest state award for ecological design in Germany. Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) presented the awards to this year's winners on Monday evening in Berlin. The Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMUV), the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) and the International Design Center Berlin (IDZ) have been awarding the prize for particularly sustainable and intelligently designed products for more than ten years. "Environmentally friendly products and services are the key to sustainable consumption," emphasized Federal Minister Lemke at the award ceremony, and in her laudation she also referred to the planned revision of the Ecodesign Directive by the European Commission, with which the principle of ecodesign would no longer be limited to energy consumption-related products, but would be extended to other areas of application. These included durability, reusability, retrofittability and reparability. The proportion of recycled materials in the product, the possibility of reprocessing and recycling, and the expected volume of waste would also play a role in the future.
Prof. Dr. Dirk Messner, President of UBA, said of the 2022 award winners, "The winning projects impressively demonstrate what is possible in ecodesign." The award-winning projects related to waste and recycling include the fully recyclable "Flex Perch" office stool from Munich-based Steelcase, which received the design award in the "Product" category. The standing stool is reportedly the world's first piece of furniture made with plastic from a BASF chemical recycling project. This technology extracts a new type of raw material from a waste stream from electronics production, the project sponsor said, which reduces waste as well as the use of fossil resources. The standing stool can be used flexibly and is durable, is said. The Dutch company Circuform also received the Ecodesign Award in the Service category for a piece of seating furniture. The Rex deposit chair is made from recycled industrial waste such as office chair parts, fishing nets or carpets. It can be borrowed and returned to local collection points, according to Circuform. Rex is said to be reusable and repairable and the collection system and deposit would make it attractive to consumers.
 
Pictured from left to right: moderator Claudia Brüninghaus, UBA President Prof. Dr. Dirk Messner, jury member Werner Aisslinger.
 
Further information: to the overview of all award winners
 

Sources:

  • umweltwirtschaft.com (Dec. 7, 2022)
  • bundespreis-ecodesign.de
  • Photo: © IDZ

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