Making bed bases from old car bumpers turned out to be anything but a rubbish idea for Graham Coleman and Gianni Nosenzo of Cycliq in Wadeville whose innovative Space Base Bed Base was awarded the SAPRO Trophy for the Best Recycled Product of the Year at the organisation’s 6th biennial awards ceremony.

According to Rudi Johannes, Chairman of the South African Plastics Recycling Organisation, products entered for this year’s competition showcased a tremendous amount of ingenuity and creativity despite the fact that plastics recycling in South Africa is under threat.

Johannes says the Space Base is a true example of a new product designed and marketed using the cost benefits of recycled material while maintaining the product’s credibility.

An industry under pressure

“The past few years have not been easy for our recyclers. Virgin polymer prices are very low and operating costs have increased as a result of higher fuel prices, increased energy and labour costs.

“To add insult to injury, we have seen traditional markets for recyclate reach saturation. The public expects recyclers to take any plastic product at no charge and turn it into a perfect raw material that will solve the world’s energy crisis and change litter habits,” Johannes said.

With that in mind the judges were impressed by the Space Base’s consumer acceptance and the extent to which it reduces the amount of plastic ending up in landfills.

Weighing just 19kg‚ the double base folds up into a quarter of the space of a traditional bed base‚ making it far easier to move, store, re-assembled or export to countries such as Australia and the Dominican Republic where the market is burgeoning. Locally, their plant produces about 3 500 of the black bases per month‚ but has the capacity to double that.

“After much trial and error and having to overcome numerous obstacles Cycliq has managed to totally reinvent the household staple that was traditionally heavy‚ cumbersome and usually made out of wood by using recycled polypropylene in the form of end-of-life automotive components – mainly car bumpers,” he disclosed.

Other winners on the night included:

• Street Sleeper (Gold Award) in the category Novel and Artistic Products for their waterproof sleeping bags for the homeless made from recycled PVC banners
• Greenlite Concrete (Gold Award) for their Jumbo Building Blocks made from recycled expanded polystyrene in the category Products made from Mixed Materials
• Usabco (Gold Award) for their Addis 10-liter watering can in the category Products made from a percentage post-consumer recyclate
• Wreaths International (Silver Award) for their range of funeral wreaths and baskets made from recycled LDPE mono-filament
• Infinite Industries (Silver Award) for their Cable Trench Covers made from recycled plastic
• Ridgedrop (Silver Award) for their solid Plastic Droppers made from a 100% post-consumer HDPE recyclate blend for game-fencing
• Tuffy for their Refuse Bags (Bronze Award) which ensures that more than 4 800 tons of recycled milk bottles, carrier bags and printed films are kept from landfill every year and for their Checkers carrier bags (Silver Award) made from 100 % recycled plastic
• MyWaste Mouldings (Bronze Award) for their innovative waste bin separator made from traditionally difficult-to-recycle materials that assist every household to separate at source.

This year’s lavish dinner was hosted in partnership with platinum sponsors Erema Plastic Recycling Systems and Polyco. The next competition will be in 2019.