Duku supports businesses to reduce plastic through better design

It’s hard to imagine a world without plastic. At Duku we design products for clients in a wide variety of industries and it is rare that plastic does not feature somewhere in their production process. It has allowed advances in medical products and reduced production costs to bring benefits to everyone, becoming an integral part of our everyday life.

But sadly, as anyone who saw the distressing scenes in David Attenborough’s Blue Planet II documentary will be all too aware, while we might be good at using plastics to make our lives easier, we’re not so good at disposing of them when they’re of no further use.

Global usage of plastics has grown twenty-fold in the last 50 years. If we carry on the way we are, by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in our oceans. Millions of tonnes of plastic waste will continue to be sent to landfill, burnt or find its way into the environment. When it comes to reuse and recycling rather than disposal we are, frankly, a bit rubbish!

We think there has to be a better way, and that there’s a balance to be struck to safeguard our environment and make the best use we can of plastics.

At the heart of our design methodology is this three-step approach: ‘eliminate, innovate and circular economy’ which is advocated by the Ellen McArthur Foundation.

It is based on the principles of designing out waste, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems.

At Duku, this means we:

1. Eliminate - Work with clients to design out plastic in their manufacturing processes

2. Innovate - Good design can significantly reduce plastic use in products and wastage at their end of life

3. Reuse - We try to prioritise recycled plastics over new, we prototype using recycled materials and design to allow products to be disassembled and plastics to be recycled.

If you’re serious about reducing the environmental impact of your products, we can work with you to show how you could reduce plastic use through design.

We can help you to embrace these ideas and help you on your way to contributing towards a less wasteful and more environmentally friendly world.