April 10, 2025
At the world's three major design awards, the winning of products containing a sustainability concept stands out. Recently, Korean works too are standing out in the sustainability category. ESG.ONL introduces sustainability products drawing attention at world-class design awards, seeking to look at how ESG ideas such as sustainability touch our lives.
The scale of the sustainability market is growing more and more. According to the research firm "Mordor Intelligence," the sustainability market is estimated at 16.56 billion dollars in 2025, and is said to reach 27.63 billion dollars in 2030. There is a field through which one can know the future of the growing sustainability market — the world's three major design competitions, Germany's Red Dot Design Award and iF, and the US IDEA Design Award. The forms of the sustainability market are various, but the future of idea concepts and products can be foretold through the winners of these three awards. Today, let us look at the various sustainable solutions presented by the design products showcased at the Red Dot Design Award.
Red Dot Design Award 2024 Winners — Best of the Best
[Zero-waste camera © FOTOFOTO]
① A zero-waste camera made from recycled waste, FF-1
"FOTOFOTO" is a company that recycles camera waste to make single-use film cameras. The FF-1 camera, attractive for its compact pastel-toned design, at a glance looks no different from a traditional single-use camera. But this camera company, which above all puts forward "zero waste" as its brand value, provides a service of developing the film when customers return the single-use camera to the company after use. And it prevents the materials from becoming waste by recycling the camera's internal components. Thus a cycle of sustainable consumption that reduces the carbon footprint is completed. It does not fall short in function either. Using cinema film, with rich color reproduction, one can leave not single-use-camera photos that merely note down memories, but a life's masterpiece like a work of art.
[The Buoy Bottle tumbler, recycled from marine trash © Buoy]
② A perfect circular-economy model, the Buoy Bottle
"Buoy" is a US company that makes reusable containers. Buoy drew the Red Dot Design Award's attention especially with the "Buoy Bottle," for resolving the seriousness of marine-ecosystem destruction and ocean pollution. The Buoy Bottle is made of 100% plastic collected from the seas and rivers of North America and Mexico. Making goods from a pure single material makes recycling easy and is said to reduce the carbon footprint by up to 80%. It also emphasizes that no additives to make the plastic flexible were used. When a long-used Buoy Bottle reaches the end of its life and is returned to the company, a new bottle is provided, creating a circular economy. The eco-friendly meaning is good, and its modular design, combining colorful hues, also catches the eye. In terms of function, complete separation — the advantage of a modular design — is possible, making it convenient for adding ice or washing. Buoy expands its brand value by donating part of its revenue to various NGOs that contribute to marine conservation.
[Oyster shells transformed into tiles © Ecoshell]
③ Oyster shells transformed into tiles for marine buildings, Eco shell
Eco shell, designed by Yingfei Zhuo, a young Chinese-born designer and architect, is an exterior tile made from discarded oyster shells and fish bones. The seafood industry worldwide discards millions of tons of oyster shells every year. When these enter the sea, they generate foul odor and wastewater. Eco shell, which can solve this problem, looks similar to concrete at a careless glance. But Eco shell is much lighter than concrete, so it has the advantages of being easy to install and reducing the building's load. The components from the fish bones act as a biodegradable adhesive, and when this combines with the oyster shells, it becomes a strongly cohesive tile. Because these oyster shells are resistant to salt corrosion, they can be used especially practically for coastal buildings.
[Waste tires reborn as a longboard © Hankook Tire]
④ Project Transformation, the longboard
This longboard, which has excellent shock absorption using recycled rubber, is a product that recycles tires. Our company "Hankook Tire" has previously made shoes and footwear as part of a tire-upcycling project. This upcycled longboard, developed by recycling tires for sustainable resource circulation, has a tire-recycled rubber sheet in the central deck to cushion shock and strengthen stability. As stability increases, it has become a longboard easy even for beginners to ride. Bio-polyurethane containing eco-friendly seaweed oil was also applied to the wheels, adding eco-friendly value.
by Editor L