This donut-shaped EDC is designed to cut through plastics to help streamline the recycling process!

The Donut Cutter is an EDC water bottle slicing tool designed to cut through hard plastics and streamline the recycling process.

PET is the most common thermoplastic polymer resin in production today. Used in fibers for clothing, thermoforming for manufacturing, and most often in containers for foods and liquids like water bottles, PET is used to produce most of the plastic-based products in circulation today. Since PET plastics aren’t biodegradable, they end up in landfills following their use where they’ll remain for 500 to 1,000 years until they fully degrade.

With plastic water bottles being some of the biggest contributors to PET plastic waste in landfills, industrial design studio BKID Co. constructed an EDC Donut Cutter that carves right through the bottle cap, neck ring, and plastic label to streamline the recycling process and prevent hard plastics from harming wild and aquatic life.

We’ve all seen the tragic photographs of turtles stuck in plastic yokes and birds choking on bottle caps. While PET plastics are certainly the most common form of thermoplastic polymer resin today, they’re also the most damaging to the planet.

BKID’s Donut Cutter slices right through every and any plastic water bottle partly in response to the life-threatening effects that in-tact plastic waste has on wildlife. Made from high-density polyethylene (HDPE), bottle caps and neck rings have a tougher, more durable feel compared to the actual water bottle, but the Donut Cuter carves right through those as well.

Compact enough to fit inside your pants pocket, the Donut Cutter is similar in size to other EDC items like pocket knives and multipurpose tools. Designed with a circular shape, the Donut Cutter is named after its main finger loop that makes handling the EDC plastic cutter intuitive and safe.

Designer: BKID Co.

This donut-shaped EDC is designed to cut through plastics to help streamline the recycling process!

The Donut Cutter is an EDC water bottle slicing tool designed to cut through hard plastics and streamline the recycling process.

PET is the most common thermoplastic polymer resin in production today. Used in fibers for clothing, thermoforming for manufacturing, and most often in containers for foods and liquids like water bottles, PET is used to produce most of the plastic-based products in circulation today. Since PET plastics aren’t biodegradable, they end up in landfills following their use where they’ll remain for 500 to 1,000 years until they fully degrade.

With plastic water bottles being some of the biggest contributors to PET plastic waste in landfills, industrial design studio BKID Co. constructed an EDC Donut Cutter that carves right through the bottle cap, neck ring, and plastic label to streamline the recycling process and prevent hard plastics from harming wild and aquatic life.

We’ve all seen the tragic photographs of turtles stuck in plastic yokes and birds choking on bottle caps. While PET plastics are certainly the most common form of thermoplastic polymer resin today, they’re also the most damaging to the planet.

BKID’s Donut Cutter slices right through every and any plastic water bottle partly in response to the life-threatening effects that in-tact plastic waste has on wildlife. Made from high-density polyethylene (HDPE), bottle caps and neck rings have a tougher, more durable feel compared to the actual water bottle, but the Donut Cuter carves right through those as well.

Compact enough to fit inside your pants pocket, the Donut Cutter is similar in size to other EDC items like pocket knives and multipurpose tools. Designed with a circular shape, the Donut Cutter is named after its main finger loop that makes handling the EDC plastic cutter intuitive and safe.

Designer: BKID Co.

Unilever is working on a 100% recyclable toothpaste tube… here’s what it means for the environment

Unilever 100% Recyclable Toothpaste Tube

The Multi-national FMCG giant plans to convert its entire global toothpaste portfolio to recyclable tubes by 2025, starting with France and India – its two largest markets.

The problem with toothpaste is that there’s hardly any socially acceptable alternative to it. Sure, you could ditch bottled water and straws in a bid to save the environment. You could swear off Coca-Cola *wink-wink Ronaldo* because it’s the world’s biggest plastics polluter. You could even ditch plastic toothbrushes for recycled/bamboo ones… but how do you avoid toothpaste? There isn’t really a concrete, well-accepted alternative to it, and given how toothpaste is something the entire world uses at least once every day, it just results in thousands of tonnes of waste every year in the form of discarded toothpaste tubes. (1.5 billion tubes each year globally, according to some reports)

Unilever seems to be taking heed of this burgeoning waste problem, and after 4 years of research and development, is launching their first entirely recyclable toothpaste tube. Traditionally, toothpaste tubes have been made out of plastic, with an inner aluminum lining, to give it flexibility while keeping it food-safe and allowing it to have a higher shelf life. Unilever’s latest toothpaste tube will be made almost entirely out of HDPE – one of the most recyclable plastics there is. “It will also be the thinnest plastic material available on the toothpaste market at 220-microns, which will reduce the amount of plastic needed for each tube. To encourage wider industry change, the innovation will be made available for other companies to adopt”, mentions Unilever’s website.

Unilever 100% Recyclable Toothpaste Tube

Recycling HDPE is rather simple and can (on a basic level) even be done by consumers. However, Unilever’s approach will involve a much more robust supply and recycling chain. Not only are the tubes designed to be recyclable, but Unilever also claims it is working with multiple global recycling organizations to help ensure that the new tubes are collected and recycled; starting with France, where consumers can put the new tubes in their home recycling bin ready to be collected and turned into new products. The pilot project will begin with France, being implemented with Unilever’s oral-care brand Signal, and will make its way to India by the end of the year with Pepsodent and CloseUp, the company’s India-based brands. Samir Singh, Executive Vice President, Global Skin Cleansing and Oral Care said that Unilever will commit to ensuring that Unilever’s entire toothpaste portfolio shifts to the recyclable tubes by 2025.

Designer: Unilever


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