Posted on: 1st April 2025
How do you give new life to plastic waste? That’s what we discovered with the recycling company Fantoplast last January, during a two-day workshop. As part of the international Yefece project, participants discovered both their practice and their business model during this local training course.
Plastic is the world’s most common waste, and represents a major environmental and health issue: microplastics are everywhere, including in our bodies. In Austria, 25.4% of plastic packaging waste was recycled in 2022, the rest being incinerated, according to Eurostat, and incineration generates around twice as many greenhouse gas emissions as recycling. As a result, Austria’s plastics recycling rate is one of the lowest in Europe, and well below the EU’s target of 50% by 2025: there’s still plenty of room for improvement. Plastic production companies are a key player for change: they can integrate recycling into their processes, instead of producing new materials: this reduces both greenhouse gas emissions and the production of virgin plastic, as well as reducing the steps in the chain.
What is exactly plastic?
Plastic is a synthetic and versatile material created from polymers derived from petroleum. Is is characterized by being movable when heated and maintaining its shape when cooled, making it suitable for a wide variety of uses.
Dozens of different types of plastics are produced today, such as polyethylene, which is widely used in product packaging, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), used in construction and pipes because of its strength and durability. Tis diversity makes it particularly complex to recycle, as every type cannot be transform in the same way.
After packaging, the main uses of plastic are building and construction, which account for around 20% of its use. Some companies have been reinventing the industry, like Fantoplast, since 2024. They’ve created a cheerful, resilient way of dealing with the urgent increase in plastic waste. The company has found an innovative way to recycle post-industrial plastic (such as cable car windows, for example) and give it a second life: thanks to the hot-pressing process, the plastic is shaped into colorful, multi-functional 200 x 100 cm panels. These panels form the perfect basis for the manufacture of sustainable furniture, with waste as the only material. The panels are versatile, and can be adapted for personal use or for the creation of industrial furniture and interior design. Fantoplast contributes to the problem of plastic recycling in Austria, using only waste from the region. Furthermore, all production is carried out using green energy, enabling the company to save up to 80% CO₂ compared to the production of new plastics.
Bonus, their panels are 100% recycled after use: by considering that an object has no beginning when it’s made and an end when it’s thrown away, but by focusing on the transformation and shape-shifting of the material, Fantoplast has a true circular philosophy and creates more meaningful objects, as they carry their ‘past life’.
« each time, considering these abandoned objects as a state of materials, we removed them from the sack where they had ended up and reintegrated them into the course of life. » Making, Tim Ingold.
These panels are more than just a material: they represent a rethinking of design and production that follows the principles of the circular economy and combines social, environmental and economic dimensions – the “triple transition”. Fantoplast is therefore a model to be closely followed in the Austrian sphere of sustainable development.
The two-day workshop was an ideal opportunity to learn and reflect on the circular economy and design. The Fantoplast business model case study enabled participants to develop their own sustainable business, through a number of exercises. Max Scheidl and Julian Jankovic gave direct examples of the recycling process in their own companies and highlighted global and local pollution and waste statistics, giving an insight into working with waste streams. The trainees were also introduced to the technical side of production and were able to participate in the creation of a panel, deciding on the design together. From this panel, each was able to create a small object of their choice, with the help of the Fantoplast team. They created prototypes that could support their business ideas, such as lampshades, dinner plates, mugs and other creative objects.
We’re excited to promote this initiative and more than happy to encourage young people to take part in this exciting journey, inspire the creation of sustainable businesses and plan together for a more circular future.
If you have any questions about the workshop or the company, please don’t hesitate to contact us or the Fantoplast team! And don’t forget to follow the Yefece project if you are interested in sustainable ideas and businesses. Subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on our social medias.
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