RO Plastic Prize: the 2023 edition is sponsored by ADI Association for Industrial Design

Ro Plastic Prize 2023 categories

For the 2023 edition, the categories of the Ro Plastic Prize, personally curated by Nicoletta Orlandi Brugnoni, want to direct attention to the need to give support and attention to the technological developments of the circular economy derived from re-Waste and the resulting benefits for the protection of the planet.

The three categories of 2023 are:

• Art and Collectible Design

The Art and Collectible Design category, the only one that requires the exclusive use of materials deriving from the reuse, recycling and upcycle of Plastics, has the intention of demonstrating how much these, thus re-ennobled, are now counted among those that can be used for works and valuable works. No longer shabby and stinky, re-Plastic in its various forms can be the protagonist of exciting and surprising works, capable of spreading a message closely linked to the mission of the project itself.

In recent years, thanks to awareness campaigns, innovative materials and uses have reconverted much of industrial production into a sustainable one. The new approach to this matter, imbued with an ethical message, has contaminated and enthused the international creative community, so much so that works and works, made with materials generated by the recycling, re-use and/or up-cycle of Plastic, are now all inside the portfolios of famous artists and designers all over the world and protagonists of exhibitions in international museums and fairs.

The infinite lives of Plastic are its own celebratory metamorphosis which art and collectible design appropriate with an unexpected creative explosion that increasingly contaminates private collections and the interest of auction houses and galleries. For this category, established and non-established Artists and Designers are required to participate with projects, works and collectible design works, unique or in limited edition, which use and sublimate the multiple capacities of reuse, recycling and/or up-cycle only of Plastic. Works capable of consolidating interest within the world of international collecting and the art market. Works (both indoor and outdoor) that are installations, videos, photographs, NFTs, sculptures, performances can be accessed without any restriction.

• Emerging High Technology

Emerging High Technology is the category that more than the others intends to involve above all Companies, Industries, Universities and Research Realities. Aware of the vastness and seriousness of the problem caused by the abnormal consumption of resources and the disposal of production, it is essential to create a new investment culture and above all the cooperation of all the players involved.

Devastating pollution, the announced depletion of fossil resources and the climate crisis are the reasons why global Research and Industry have made huge investments in projects and products of the highest technological innovation, succeeding in transforming problems into opportunities.

Waste of energy, production scraps are the subject of scientific and technological investigations which have transformed its minus-value into a plus-value, generating a real High Technology Industry focused and developed both on the recovery of waste from the materials produced and on saving of the resources used for production.

For this category, researchers, students, universities, companies and industries are invited to present emerging innovative research and/or industrial projects, based on a proactive approach to Waste and equipped with important high-tech performances that contemplate the reuse of production waste, the reduction of emissions into the environment and mitigating solutions that maximize the resilience of ecosystems by adapting lifestyles to new climate changes; an integration between technology and design with the aim of minimizing the use of energy and maximizing people's comfort, also working in terms of buildings, roads and public spaces.

• Inspiring Learning Projects

Urged by the world of work in the constant search for professional figures to be included in the circular economy, the Inspiring Learning Projects category asks for participation with projects on any medium, capable both of spreading awareness of what are the

new professional needs resulting from the circular economy, and to solicit participation by students in approaching these new training courses.

The circular economy generated by re-Waste is the key paradigm for concretely implementing an environmental and social sustainability of which there is now unanimous and global awareness. To give life to this transition, also deriving from re-Waste, professional figures trained to develop, produce and manage new technologies capable of implementing this change are increasingly needed. It is therefore urgent that the school system (educational and training) also re-propose itself by composing dissemination, education and training projects that contemplate the approach and access to these new professions. Dissemination and knowledge projects which, dedicated to the various school age groups - from kindergarten to continuing education - enthuse, solicit, relaunch the new generations of students on technical-professional paths of which the research, production and industry sectors urgently need need worldwide.