Innovative applications for weatherproof building materials; the recycling of medical packaging; furniture for patients with neuromotor conditions; and cutting process waste have been announced as top winners in the INOVYN Awards 2019.
The winners were announced at a special evening gala ceremony held on 17 October to coincide with ‘K2019’, the flagship fair of the plastics and rubber industries.
The INOVYN Awards 2019 attracted entrants from around the world including manufacturers; distributors; product specifiers; architects and designers; students; academics and research organisations. A record 93 projects were submitted to the Awards from more than 19 countries, competing for the top accolades in four award categories:
- sustainability innovation;
- design innovation;
- process innovation; and
- new product innovation.
The winners in each category were selected by an independent panel of expert judges comprised leading figures from the world of design; business & marketing; sustainability & life-cycle assessment; and the media. The four expert judges were:
- Phil Brownsord, MD Ginger Fox Consulting Ltd/Advisor to the Materials and Design Exchange (MaDE)®;
- Ms Maggie Saykali, CEFIC aisbl (Director for the Plastics Additives and Resins clusters);
- Dr Martin Baitz, Director Content, thinkstep AG; and
- Ms Leanne Taylor, Head of Content Plastics Division, Rapid News Communications Group.
The ‘New Product Innovation Category’ gold award was presented to Eurocell for its highly durable, 100% recyclable cladding system for coastal properties that withstands weather conditions with minimal maintenance required.
Pharmaceutical film producers Bilcare Research and Perlen Packaging won gold in the ‘Sustainability Innovation Category’ for their recycling of PVC films used with aluminium foil for packaging medicines, turning waste into PVC recyclate for building profiles and aluminium for the automotive industry.
The gold winner of the ‘Process Innovation Category’ was Coperion for its two-stage process ‘Kombiplast’ that significantly reduces dust during the cutting of PVC pellets.
The Instituto Brasiliero do PVC won gold in the ‘Design Innovation Category’ for its lightweight PVC furnishings and equipment for children with neuromotor dysfunctions. The project gathers wires, pipes, connectors, sheets and other products made of PVC and turns them into shower chairs, positioning chairs, walkers and adjustable tables.
Leanne Taylor, INOVYN Awards judge, commented: “The judging panel continues to be very impressed by the quality of projects that are submitted to the INOVYN Awards. Those projects that won this year stood out as real exemplars of innovation, helping to deliver significant benefits within their chosen field.”
Commented Filipe Constant, Business Director INOVYN: “Innovation is the lifeblood of the vinyl industry. Therefore, as Europe’s leading producer of a range of vinyl, including BIOVYN - our next generation of vinyl that takes sustainability even further - we are extremely proud to have hosted the INOVYN Awards 2019.
“The global vinyl industry continues to drive innovation at a significant pace, and for this year’s Awards we extended our categories even further to acknowledge the ongoing breadth and diversity of innovation across all sectors of the industry.
“I would like to congratulate all of the entrants, and the winners, for continuing to push the boundaries of what is possible with vinyl. It is such innovation that makes vinyl one of the most versatile products in modern society.”
The complete list of winners for the INOVYN Awards 2019 is:
NEW PRODUCT INNOVATION CATEGORY
- Gold - Eurocell for its project ‘Coastline composite cladding system’
- Silver - Nicoll for its project ‘Nicoll reinvents the shower and bath syphon with Magnetech’
- Bronze - Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya BarcelonaTech for its project ‘E-Dock: parking for electric scooters in Barcelona’
- Special Commendation - Confort Banho for its shallow inflatable bathtubs for bedridden patients of all ages.
PROCESS INNOVATION CATEGORY
- Gold - Coperion for its project ‘Innovation in cutting PVC pellets: Coperion’s knife rotor minimises dust’
- Silver - Solvay SA for its project ‘Alve-One solutions by Solvay: a new generation of sustainable chemical blowing agents’
- Bronze - Deceuninck for its project ‘Thermofibra 2.0: a fully recyclable, more efficient PVC window frame’
- Special Commendation - Polymer-Chemie GmbH for its project ‘Fire-retardant vinyl fibres for design flooring’.
SUSTAINABILITY INNOVATION CATEGORY
- Gold - AGPU, Bilcare Research and Perlen Packaging for their project ‘Pharma Blister Recycling - from concept to value chain approach’
- Silver - Perstorp AB for its project ‘Plasticiser based on renewable content’
- Bronze - PipeLife with its project ‘Pipelife with 3 pipe-lives for a more sustainable future’
- Special Commendation - Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya BarcelonaTech for its project ‘Urban Jungle: hydroponics scaled to urban living’.
DESIGN INNOVATION CATEGORY
- Gold - The Instituto Brasiliero do PVC for its project ‘Adapting PVC elements as furniture and equipment for young neurological patients’
- Silver - TechPlas Extrusions for its project ‘TechBoard planks: optimal geometry replaces timber scaffold for tough conditions’
- Bronze - Benvic Europe and Geplast for their project ‘PVC honeycomb profiles make Geplast’s shutter box highly insulating’
- Special Commendation - Kristen Tapping for her project ‘Tectum - affordable roofing from recycled PVC’.
Some 450 guests attended the awards and heard keynote presentations on innovation from Dr Carsten Sorensen of the London School of Economics and Conor Taylor of Team INEOS.
Full details of the entrants and winning projects for 2019 can be found on the dedicated Awards website at www.inovynawards.com
ENDS
For editors:
Formed on 1 July 2015, INOVYN is a vinyl producer that ranks among the top three worldwide. With a turnover in excess of €3.5 billion, INOVYN has more than 4,300 employees and manufacturing, sales and marketing operations in ten countries across Europe.
INOVYN’s portfolio consists of an extensive range of class-leading products arranged across Organic Chlorine Derivatives; Chlor Alkali; General Purpose Vinyls; Specialty Vinyls; and Electrochemical and Vinyls Technologies. Annual production volumes are in excess of 40 million tonnes.
