When the hydraulic press forged the first ever Smile Plastics panel back in the mid 1990s, reimagining ‘waste’ was an entirely new concept. A small manufacturer with great intentions, the unique endeavour was truly ahead of its time. Transforming what was previously considered a low-value, throwaway material into luxury interior panels to be kept hold of and cherished, Smile Plastics pioneered flipping the general consensus on ‘waste’ plastic.
In 2014, following Williamson’s retirement, designers Rosalie McMillan and Adam Fairweather revived the brand, applying their own unique twist of innovation and reimagination to not only continue the legacy of Williamson and Atfield’s work, but bolster it – upscaling operations, and widening the scope on Smile Plastics’ product offering.
Since the ‘90s, the conversation around sustainability, and particularly the consideration of circular economy, has intensified. Currently, each year, 400 million tonnes of virgin plastic is produced globally, and less than 10% of it is recycled. This has led to an acceleration in our mission to recontextualise plastic as a circular material, harnessing its beneficial properties such as hardiness, plus reflecting the societal need for joyful surroundings filled with design solutions that are deeply characterful, and truly beautiful, to ensure its life is not singular, but infinite, on as large a scale as it possibly can be.
“Plastic itself is not inherently the issue”
“Plastics have some amazing properties that can be harnessed through thoughtful design”, commented our co-founder, Rosalie McMillan, in a recent conversation with Dezeen, speaking on the topic of how plastics should be considered as part of a circular future. “Additionally, with the proper systems and infrastructure in place, plastics can be recycled repeatedly. Plastic itself is not inherently the issue, in our view – rather, it’s the linear production model and the lack of cost-efficient waste management systems that are problematic, as well as our poor relationship with the material.”
The relationship that Rosalie highlights has driven her and co-founder Adam to work hard on altering perceptions – and this is evident in all that we do here at Smile Plastics; the surface of our 3m x 1.2m 100% recycled/recyclable plastic sheets quite literally wear remnants of their lifecycle on their sleeves. Whether it’s the glimmer of yoghurt pot foil or the monochromatic flash of a barcode, these irregularities are celebrated, serving as a beautiful visual reminder of how, according to Rosalie, “plastic can play a part in responsible material selection now, and into the future.”
Though on first glance, the dappled patterning on the likes of Orca and Heron, or the smattered, otherworldly flashes, flecks, and bursts of brilliant colour contained within Cosmos and Spectra may appear random, an element of control is part of their design process – with shards of recycled plastic laid out by hand before a panel goes to press. As you can see, strong aesthetics are crucial to our product offering.
What is out of our team’s control, though, is raw material supply. Our collections are limited-edition, entirely dependent on the available ‘waste’ that comes from our trusted suppliers. As Rosalie states, it’s important we are “picky” with the raw materials we select. The reason for this? Safety.
Spectra and Alba raw material
“Plastics need to be treated with care in order to preserve their recyclability”
“Proper auditing of the plastics feedstocks for us is incredibly important to ensure that the plastics that we produce are Reach compliant and safe for their intended applications”, explains Adam. “Thanks to our low-impact processing methods, our materials exhibit no volatile organic compounds (VOCs), a notable contrast to other recycled plastics that may contain pockets of gas or VOCs throughout their structure. Essentially plastics need to be treated with care in order to preserve their recyclability and to ensure that they are not thermally degraded or unsafe to use.”
In addition to sourcing external would-be ‘waste’, we repurpose off-cuts, and material returned through our buy-back scheme. “Any Smile Plastics product can be recycled locally or, as part of our buy-back scheme, returned to us to be remade as panels all over again in an infinite loop. There has been a great adoption of our buy back scheme for converting back into our core range of materials or site-specific custom materials, and we are looking to build on this with our growing client base”, adds Rosalie.
“Our recycled plastic panels have a lower global warming impact compared to many comparable natural and man-made surfaces”
As well as the material itself existing within a zero-waste, circular loop, our production methods use “70% less energy and lower temperatures than traditional plastics recycling”, says Adam. “This is important not only from a carbon perspective but also when looking at continued circularity of the material. We operate to minimise the denaturing of the plastics through our recycling processes and can therefore support the circularity of our plastics for more iterations than standard recycling.”
The full extent of this industry comparative data was unearthed as part of a life cycle analysis, undertaken to support two published product EPDs for our HIPS and PET materials. “Another important component to look at when it comes to assessing whether materials are sustainable is carbon impact. Not all surfaces are created equal, and we are proud to share our recently published EPDs and life cycle analyses on our materials”, continues Adam.
“These assessments demonstrate that our recycled plastic panels have a lower global warming impact compared to many comparable natural and man-made surfaces. This highlights that plastics, when manufactured conscientiously and within closed-loop systems, can serve as a low-carbon and readily available solution for the world's material needs. It's also essential to acknowledge that seemingly natural materials like ply and wood composites often contain high percentages of virgin resins and coatings, adding complexity to the sustainability evaluation of materials.”
This all-round consideration of the environment appeals to our longstanding client base, with national and global brands such as Ganni, Selfridges and Lush, and independents including Tala, Monc and Sneakersnstuff, choosing to work with our recycled/recyclable panels because of a shared value system and the desire to obtain products with genuine narrative.
While retail is a significant sector for us at Smile Plastics – where, as Rosalie explains, 'providing customers with an unforgettable experience is crucial for the future of our high streets' – our materials are also widely used in hospitality, residential, workplace, and exhibition settings around the world. Next on the calendar is the Material Matters event at the London Design Festival, taking place from 18-21 September.
Heron in Tala's Flagship showroom, Shoreditch, London; Ocean chest of drawers and Kaleido plinths by Stamuli for Ganni; Custom PET wash in Apricot for MONC x Nina+Co x Smile Plastics
“We have a duty to honour the material into future lives”
After 30 years of flying the flag for the inclusion of plastics in a circular design future, do our co-founders Rosalie and Adam believe this is achievable on a mass scale?
“We currently divert 1500 tonnes of waste plastics per year and are scaling our capacity to divert 3000 tonnes annually in Wales alone within the next 12 months”, responds Rosalie, referring to the Swansea site that’s home to our bespoke-built manufacturing facility, where 300 3m x 1.2m recycled/recyclable plastic sheets can be produced each week.
For the trickier-to-recycle plastics, there’s hope for those too. “There have been recent innovations in chemical plastics recycling technologies which provide a very promising solution for hard-to-recycle or heavily contaminated plastics”, adds Adam.
“Though we acknowledge there is work to be done to make plastic a circular material on a mass scale, we’re dedicated to supporting what we feel is its rightful place in the built environment’s future. We want to see an end to single-use plastic, and the global adoption of a circular ecosystem in which all our existing plastic can be infinitely recycled and ‘waste’, as we know it, ceases to exist”, concludes Rosalie.
“If we have all depended on plastics in the past and continue to depend on them today then we also have a duty to honour the material into future lives and design it appropriately into the built environment in a circular way.”
Explore our full conversation with Dezeen here.
