Episode 6 Adam Fairweather – reimagine waste

In this podcast, Catherine Weetman is talking to Adam Fairweather.  Adam and his partner Rosalie McMillan run Smile Plastics, a circular economy business that reimagines local waste streams to make beautiful materials for the built environment. We talk about Adam’s approach to design, and his ethos that ‘material language’ can communicate messages to people through design, creating socially, emotionally and industrially durable products. We explore some of the wide range of projects Adam has been involved in over the last couple of decades.  Adam tells us about his plans for decentralised manufacturing, forming an industrial ecosystem to reimagine waste. You can read a summary of the podcast, and find the links to the people, organisations and other resources we mention, further down this page. About Adam Adam Fairweather Adam is an industrial designer with specific experience in materials development. Adam founded Re-worked Ltd in 2010, a product design consultancy focussed on recycled materials, and developed ‘Çurface’, a renowned panel material made from recycled coffee grounds. Adam has advised a broad range of companies around the circular economy, designing ways to reuse and recycle waste products. Adam also provides consulting services to Lofbergs UK, and is innovations director at Greencup UK, a coffee company. Smile Plastics Established in 1994, Smile Plastics up-cycles various waste streams and manufactures decorative and functional composite panel products. Smile Plastic's products are used by designers and architects to make products and interior design more sustainable and exciting. Smile Plastics also works with businesses interested in finding new uses for their waste either to sell or use internally within the business. Podcast Sections  [00:00] Adam tells us about his degree, in product/industrial/applied design, at the University of Brighton back in the early 2000s.  He was frustrated that it didn’t equip him to use design to change the world, to have a positive net impact and be more sustainable. Adam explains how all his work is linked to Permaculture, and how ‘material language’ can communicate messages to people through design, creating socially, emotionally and industrially durable products. Reimagine waste [06:11] The focus of Adam’s work is how you can take what is seen as waste, and reimagine it, so it can be useful again – to businesses, society and our environment.  This is the starting point for nearly every project over the last two decades, and the driving force behind Smile Plastics and Adam’s work with Greencup.  Adam feels it is important to take responsibility for the full supply chain, whether tiny or employing millions of people.  Smile Plastics is a circular economic business, designed around Permaculture, aiming to achieve net positive social impacts. Adam aims to change the perception of what waste is, and change perceptions of value.  He feels that the lack of emotional durability is ultimately what makes a product redundant, thus leading to more waste. Getting under the hood of Smile Plastics [11:32] Smile Plastics is a material design and manufacturing house, that takes different types of waste material and converts them into decorative surface panel products.  They are often used as building materials,