Recycled HDPE / PP Plastics

Toby Smith
Dec 16, 2025
2 min read

Updated: Jan 13

Globally, only 14-18% of plastic waste is recycled.

(Simon et al., 2021)

But is plastic the villain? — Or is it our systems?

Overview

In this post I will be talking about recycled plastics relating both to consumer and industry waste.

Plastics are often misunderstood, they can be built to last, beautiful and sustainable. Making plastic uses up a lot of oil and fossil fuel based energy (Simon et al., 2021), recycling sustainable as it avoids the process of producing the plastic.

I will cover a couple of different case studies on how plastics are being recycled in innovative ways.

We use plastics because they can do things other materials cannot. We have an opportunity and an obligation to think about how we can re-design plastics to make them fully sustainable and fit for purpose, both for existing applications and for those we will need tomorrow. In the process, we must aim to reduce and even reverse some of the damage plastic pollution has already caused.

(Williams, cited in Royal Society of Chemistry, n.d.)

Sustainable plastics products are possible, whether its making it by recycling old plastics, or designing the product to be long lasting and recyclable.

Case Study — Gomi Design (Brighton, UK)

(gomi, n.d.)

gomi was created with a clear sense of purpose ⸻ to make beautiful products that last

(gomi, n.d.)

Every year the UK alone throws away 300 million kilograms of flexible plastics. This includes shopping bags, bubble-wrap, and industrial packaging; all of which which have been deemed ‘non-recyclable’ by UK councils. At gomi, we’ve come up with a way of recycling these flexible plastics, turning them into a raw material which is aesthetically unique.

(gomi, 2025)

Heating into coloured sheets

(gomiDesign, 2023)

Plastic waste is cleaned to avoid contaminates. It is then set in the oven to melt. Once ready it is twisted, folded and stretched with different colours to achieve that iconic marbling look.

The marbled plastic is placed inside of the mould and set into the oven once again to get it to soften. When it is ready it is taken out and it is compression moulded.

(Engineering Product Design, 2024)

A compression mould is where plastic blocks, sheets or granules are heated, and compressed into a mould. The mould in the diagram has heated elements built in however at gomi design they use a oven to preheat both the plastic and moulds (gomiDesign, 2023).

References

A binding global agreement to address the life cycle of plastics. (2021)

Simon, N., Raubenheimer, K., Urho, N., Unger, S., Azoulay, D., Farrelly, T., Sousa, J., van Asselt, H., Carlini, G., Sekomo, C., Schulte, M.L., Busch, P.-O., Wienrich, N. and Weiand, L.

[online] Available at: https://impact.economist.com/sustainability/circular-economies/data-point-rethinking-recycling

(Accessed: 24 November 2025).

Royal Society of Chemistry (2019) Science to enable sustainable plastics – The central role of chemistry.

[online] Available at: https://www.rsc.org/policy-and-campaigning/environmental-sustainability/science-to-enable-sustainable-plastics

(Accessed: 19 November 2025).

gomi (n.d.) “About gomi – Our commitment”,

About the Studio. Available at:

https://www.gomi.design

https://www.gomi.design/pages/about-the-studio

(Accessed: 20 November 2025).

Speaker product range [screenshot].

Available at: https://gomi.design//collections/gomi-speakers