07 Sustainable Production Talk: "Sustainable Design for end of life" by Richard Kirkman

Nirvana CPH was delighted to present its ‘Sustainable Stories’ Exhibition at the London Design Festival in collaboration with SharpEnd from 18th September 2019 – 18th October 2019. The exhibition was hosted at the G . F Smith Show Space; alongside their collection of innovative and technically advanced papers.

This interactive exhibition presented 5 ‘Sustainable Stories’ for the modern brand & consumer, which demystified the issues surrounding sustainability and how it impacts our every-day lives as well as presenting future production solutions in sustainable packaging.

The featured stories focus on the packaging materials where the need for sustainability initiatives is most relevant: glass, paper, metal, textile and plastic. Each story included the key ingredients to the success of a brand or a product; consumer education, production transparency, innovation and closed loop material scenarios for minimal use of resources. Examples of where technology could help with both minimising the environmental impact as well as communicate the sustainable story were also showcased.

Nirvana CPH also hosted a talks program throughout the exhibition, with leading industry voices, which included:

SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS TALKS
Katie Kubrak, Materials & Insight at Nirvana CPH
Sian Sutherland, Co-founder at A Plastic Planet
Gary Tee, Director at TIPA
Julian Ellerby, Strategy Director at FranklinTill

SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION TALKS
Nick Gumery, an Ethical Buyer at Lush
Carl Partt, Founder of FuturePlanet
Richard Kirkman, Chief Technology & Innovation Officer at Veolia UK & Ireland

SUSTAINABLE INNOVATION TALKS
Cameron Worth, Founder and CEO of SharpEnd – The Agency of ThingsTM
Natasha Franck, Founder and CEO of Eon
Ashwini Deshpande, Founder of Art-Z

This video is part of Sustainable Production talk series. In the talk Richard states that the big problem with plastic is not putting it in the right bin. He goes on by discussing that sometimes when it’s a multi-layered material a user most often does not know where to put it. And this is a micro-second decision, so it needs to be built into the design, so that people know where to put it. Labelling and harmonisation of waste collection will help but it is down to the design community to let people know what to do. Watch it to find out more!

Richard Kirkman, Chief Technology & Innovation Officer at Veolia UK & Ireland. Richard is a board member responsible for Technology & Innovation to resource the world with materials, water and energy. Delivering on Waste Treatments, Media Relations, Renewable Energy, Fleet Electrification, Planning and Construction. Strong Circular Economy and Innovation Delivery focus. Professional graduated from University of Leeds and working with Imperial College.