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Reuse: IPPI meets FOO for IDS 2023

IDS 2023 in Cologne

From March 14 to 18 2023, IPPI will be an exhibitor at IDS 2023 in Cologne.

During this event, a reuse project will be presented that IPPI implemented in collaboration with FOO REUSE DESIGN through the distribution of gadgets made out of unusable products

IDS 2023 di Colonia

What is FOO REUSE DESIGN?

Foo Reuse Design is a brand that was created to provide a design response to environmental problems, with a project that is able to identify and enhance the value of an existing object and transform it into something useful.

Starting from reusing plastic bottles to make lampshades, today the brand has two other production lines: the recovery of fabrics it uses to produce bags and accessories and the brand new “Scraps” line that reuses company scraps. 

The method the brand selected for reusing existing objects is that of super-use, which is an approach that aims to renew the economic and instrumental value of objects, through their superior use, creating things from things. 

Therefore by not attempting to radically transform the material to be reused, the project looks to the quality of the existing objects to find stimuli and suggestions for translating them into new shapes.

Foo Reuse Design intends to implement this project with a sustainable approach that places particular attention on social inclusion and respect for the natural environment.

The twofold need to reduce the consumption of finite resources and, perhaps more difficult, to face the problem of disposing what we no longer use is condensed into the need to make each citizen feel more responsible for their own daily actions.

Even if at the basis of the Foo project there is an optimistic and creative view toward environmental problems, today it appears urgent to act and create occasions for being able to reflect on our behaviors, and to do it together. 

Collaboration with other people, whether they are individuals, associations or companies makes the project alive and shared, and seeks to explain how much can be done every day by choosing to respect the environment and protect resources.

Foo lampshades were finalists of the 2022 Compasso d’Oro in the “Social Design” category. They received the ADI Lazio and Lazio region award as “Design Excellence in Lazio” and were among the five innovative companies to represent innovative Lazio at Downtown Design 2021.

IPPI riuso bottiglie in plastica

Where does the idea come from?

In its search for new occasions for promoting and divulging the reuse of existing objects, Foo Reuse Design has decided to concentrate its attention on production scraps from manufacturing companies.

Foo Reuse Design has dedicated its “Scraps” line to the products resulting from this research.

During this research process, Foo Reuse Design met with IPPI and remained fascinated about its production of plastic objects and components with different shapes, materials and colors.

IPPI liked Foo Reuse Design’s project and was responsive to and interested in the concept of reuse.

While discussing with IPPI, we discovered that their quality control involves collecting and checking a molded product every hour to guarantee maximum quality standards. At the end of production, some molded parts are kept for a certain period of time, after which they are disposed of. 

Therefore IPPI maintains a certain quantity of heterogeneous details – the shape, color and type of material that at a certain point must be eliminated.

The molding process is a process that in and of itself does not produce significant quantities of waste, because usually it is possible to reuse the waste and scraps by recovering the material, therefore “throwing away” is a solution that is far away from IPPI’s philosophy. 

For this reason, when we contacted them in search of waste material, we discovered we have the same objective.

What is the result of the collaboration between IPPI and FOO REUSE DESIGN?

The meeting between IPPI and Foo was a real flash of inspiration, we found that our intentions and project methodology are very similar.

In addition to making material to be reused immediately available, IPPI also hired Foo to use their production waste to create small products to give to their customers as gifts at the IDS 2023 tradeshow in Cologne.

Diletta Cuniberti, the CEO of IPPI, comments as follows on the meeting with Foo:

“Their ability to reinvent objects, turning them into something that is completely different than their primary use and giving them a new life is incredible, just as their lampshades made of recycled bottles and shoppers made from old shirts are incredible. Fortunately also IPPI’s caps and tubes had the same destiny and therefore at IDS 2023 they will not only be a product to be presented and sold, but also a fun gadget to wear. We will not change the fate of the planet, but we will show that throwing something away is not always the only solution”.

We at Foo will do our best to earn lots of support, trying to find new useful uses for these fantastic existing objects, and based on the quality and characteristics of IPPI’s waste it will not be a very difficult task!

Barbara Bagaglia

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