We invite you to Dutch Design Week Eindhoven feature event, ‘Design Challenges with Biobased Plastics’ for the latest from researchers, designers and industry leaders in the innovative world of biobased plastics. Though lectures, workshops, an exhibition, and the great networking opportunities provided, you can immerse yourself in the forward-thinking world of biobased plastics.

The recent growth of new biobased plastics offers an exciting perspective on the idea of the circular economy. The application of these materials however still requires the necessary knowledge and information exchange between producers, designers and scientists to reach their potential. What exactly is the value of these biopolymers? What design challenges do you face? And how do you translate the potential of biobased plastics into successful products?

In the morning, the latest biobased plastic findings will be shared through presentations, both from academia and from industry. Entrepreneurs and designers will talk about their ambitions and experiences with biobased plastics. The afternoon workshops offer inspiration. You will work together with entrepreneurs, designers and researchers on concrete case studies where you will consider new uses for biobased plastic, research the look and feel of biobased plastics or re-design a biobased product. Lunch and the closing reception will provide an additional opportunity for networking with designers, producers, researchers and companies.

During this event, there will also be an exhibition looking at biobased materials and two of the digitial tools that support designers in the biobased material choices will be launched, thus providing additional insight into the value of materials. The tools were developed by the University of Amsterdam in collaboration with Wageningen UR and Partners for Innovation and are one of the results of the RAAK-mkb project ‘Design Challenges with Biobased Plastics.’

The programme is as follows:

09.30: Reception and registration
10:00: Lectures from research and practice (including lectures form DPI Value Centre, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, WUR, Omefa, BioFutura, Océ MAX and designers)
12:15 to 13:15: Lunch and a tour of the biobased materials and products exhibition
13:15 to 14:00: Introduction to the workshops
14:00 to 16:30: Workshops with case studies focused on the challenging applications of biobased plastics
16.30-17.30: Networking and drinks

The lineup of the lectures to be given follows below (in Dutch):

• ‘De waarde van biobased plastics’ – Lonneke de Graaff, DPI Value Centre
• ‘Aan de slag met biobased plastics!’ – Inge Oskam, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences
• ‘Produceren in biobased plastics, do’s en don’ts’ – Dizzy Soederhuizen, Omefa, plastic injection moulding
• ‘Toepassing van biobased plastics bij printers’ – Otto Salomons, Océ-Technologies, producer of multi-functional printers (subject to change)
• ´Bio-based product development in de praktijk´ – Wouter Moekotte, BioFutura, importer, wholesaler and webshop ifor biodegradable plastic products
• ´Bioplastics, wat kunnen designers daar nu mee?´ – Marien Korthorst, MAX designers, design office
• ‘Het kan met biobased plastics!’ lancering tools met o.m. Frans Kappen, Wageningen UR

And the workshops to be given are (in Dutch):

• De Look & Feel van Biobased Plastics – Hoe kun je een biobased plastic product aantrekkelijker maken? (BioFutura)
• Glycix: een nieuw materiaal met speciale eigenschappen – Welke unieke ontwerpen kun je maken? (Plantix)
• ‘Toepassing van biobased plastics bij printers’ (Océ, onder voorbehoud)
• Hands-on met keuzetool “BioPlastics4U” en de LCA-quickscan (HvA)
• Biobased plastics in interieur nieuwe duurzame Techniekgebouw (HvA)

This event is organised by the DPI Value Centre, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Association of Dutch Designers (BNO) and Materia. The event is part of the research project ‘Design Challenges with Biobased Plastics’ that receives an RAAK SME grant from the ‘Stichting Innovatie Alliantie.’ For more information on this project please visit www.biobasedplastics.nl.

If you have any questions, please contact Lonneke de Graaff (l.graaff@dpivaluecentre.nl). For telephone enquiries, please call 040 247 44 14

Dutch Design Week Eindhoven is taking place from 18 to 26 October 2014. You find out more about this event here.