Designers and creators nowadays are incorporating the thought of reducing the harmful impacts of products to the environment before producing their projects. This may range from using organic materials to reducing the waste they will produce and even to using recyclable materials for their project.
Recently, a Sydney-based duo called Préssec designed a product that showcased not just their creativity but also their care for the environment. Préssec created a ping pong paddle that is made of a terrazzo-like recycled plastic called HDPE plastic.
According to the designers, they use most of their time during lockdown playing ping pong on their kitchen table. They soon realized how great it would be to explore manufacturing ping pong paddles from recycled plastics.
What started as their pastime slowly became a project with purpose. Every weekend, the designers would have weekly design challenges, which quickly turned into a desire to make the idea into reality. The designers said that they are intrigued by terrazzo-like recycled plastic so they wanted to explore the material further and fully understand what it’s like to work with.
Terrazzo-like Material
Terrazzo is a material commonly used in flooring, walls, countertops etc. It is made up of chips of marble or granite that is set in concrete and polished to give a smooth finishing surface.
This terrazzo-like material that préssec used on their ping pong paddle is composed of recycled HDPE plastic. To fully understand what’s unique about this material, let me enlighten you on some few things about HDPE plastic.
HDPE plastic or high-density polyethylene is one of the most versatile plastics and it is also widely recycled, may it be in its rigid form like containers or in its flexible form like bags.
Today it is the most widely used type of plastic due to these following reasons:
- Lightweight yet super strong.
- Long lasting, weather resistant and impact resistant.
- Very malleable and can be easily molded into any desired shape.
- Resists insects, rotting, and mold.
Unique Design
“We knew that the material on its own was going to make the product stand out, but we still wanted to apply our design aesthetic and come up with a unique design,” says préssec.
Instead of using the standard 3-layer construction of ping pong paddles, the designers decided to improve it by using a single piece thus removing any parting lines.
Préssec also shaped a hollow handle for the paddle so as to reduce weight and to explore forms that felt better in the hand as well as resolving surface transitions that are usually compromised.
Visit their official instagram account @pressec.design
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