Actor, writer and celebrity quizzer Shaun Williamson, best known for playing Barry Evans in EastEnders for 10 years, revealed the 16 winners of the 2019 Plastics Industry Awards (PIAs) at a Greatest Show on Earth-themed black-tie event at the London Hilton on Park Lane last night (27th September).

Now in their 19th year, the Plastics Industry Awards comprise 16 categories covering product design, innovation, recycling, manufacturing, training and environmental performance.

Rosti Automotive Larkhall and Clean Tech both scooped two of the prestigious Plastics Industry Awards, known as the Oscars of the UK and Irish plastics industry. Rosti won the prestigious Processor of the Year Award, as well as the Best Training & Development Programme of the Year. Clean Tech and parent company Plastipak together won both Best Business Initiative of the Year and Best Environmental or Energy Efficiency Programme of the Year.

Young Designer of the Year was Ben Capern from the University of the West of England for Flow, an ingenious mixing bowl designed for people with low dexterity. Ben received the award and a prize of a £1,000 courtesy of sponsor Motan Colortronic. Flow is a bowl mounted on legs, which can be clicked into various positions to allow for one-handed operation, whether mixing or pouring.

ToPo by serial inventor Dr William Johnson of William J Inventions was awarded Consumer Product Design of the Year. The ToPo screw-top closure has a second life as a collectable toy, whilst also educating children about the environment. Each bottle cap has two sets of connectors that link together to make 2D or 3D models.

Winner of the Industrial Product Design of the Year was Boddingtons Plastics for the Bladder Light, marketed by Cytosystems. An outstanding example of latest high technology use of plastics for medical applications, Bladder Light is a collection device for use in testing and screening of cancer cells. It is assembled from no less than 38 components.

Innovative and sustainable plastic packaging solutions featured prominently this year. Winner of the Recycled Plastic Product of the Year Award, was DuPont Teijin Films for its LuxCR process, which depolymerises mechanically recovered PET back to the monomer. This base material is then repolymerised for conversion into food-safe BoPET films.

The Materials Innovation Award went to RPC bpi protec for its X-EnviroShrink, a shrink-wrapping material developed in-house by RPC bpi protec and using RPC bpi recycled products' Sustane polymer. Manufactured from 30% post-consumer recylate (PCR) that is itself 100% recyclable, it has been developed to have comparable performance to virgin film.

Several categories acknowledged the personal contributions that play an important part in the success of the UK plastics industry. Jake Hollins, Junior Product Designer at RPC UCP Zeller Plastik was named Apprentice of the Year and presented with a cheque for £500 from the PMMDA. Jake completed his apprenticeship with RPC UCP Zeller Plastik in just 12 months after being made redundant from his initial apprenticeship elsewhere.

The Unsung Hero Award went to Lydia Wheeler of ND Precision Products, described by her managing director Nick Squire as “the best employee that I have ever employed”. Ambassador of the Year was Nigel Flowers, Managing Director of Sumitomo (SHI) Demag UK, manufacturer of plastic injection moulding machines.Matt Barber, sales and events director at Crain Communications, which organises the awards said: “The quality and number of entries for the 2019 Plastics Industry Awards was outstanding. Congratulations to our winners, some of whom have a long history of success over the last 19 years, while others have lifted their first PIA this year. Our mission is to recognise innovation and excellence in plastics design and manufacture, and I pay tribute to the many ways in which our winners are advancing the sustainable use of plastics today.”

 

Apprentice or Trainee of the Year - sponsored by Meusburger

Jake Hollins, RPC UCP Zeller Plastik

 

Best Business Initiative of the Year - sponsored by Gauge and Toolmakers Association

Clean-Tech & Plastipak

 

Best Environmental or Energy Efficiency Programme of the Year - sponsored by KraussMaffei Group UK

Clean-Tech & Plastipak

 

Best Recycled Plastic Product of the Year – sponsored by RECycling Of Used Plastics

DuPont Teijin Films for LuxCR™ Depolymerisation Process

 

Best Technology Application of the Year – sponsored by Sino Manufacturing

Kongsberg Automotive

 

Best Training & Development Programme of the Year – sponsored by RJG Technologies

Rosti Automotive Larkhall

 

Consumer Product Design of the Year – sponsored by Plastech Solutions

William J Inventions for ToPo

 

Industrial Product Design of the Year – sponsored by Distrupol

Boddingtons Plastics for Cytosystems - Bladderlight

 

Materials Innovation Award – sponsored by Plastics News Europe

RPC bpi protec for X-EnviroShrink

 

Processor of the Year – sponsored by Engel

Rosti Automotive Larkhall

 

Supplier Partnership – Ancillary Machinery – sponsored by PlastikCity

Kawasaki Robotics (UK) for Synthotec

 

Supplier Partnership – Prime Machinery – sponsored by Summit Systems

ARBURG for Neoperl

Supplier Partnership – Toolmaker – sponsored by HASCO

Faulkner Moulds for St Davids Assemblies

 

Unsung Hero – sponsored by The British Plastics Federation

Lydia Wheeler of ND Precision Products

 

Young Designer of the Year – sponsored by Motan Colortronic

Ben Capern of University of the West of England

 

Ambassador of the Year – sponsored by Plastics & Rubber World

Nigel Flowers

 

The awards also enjoy the support of industry associations including BIDA (British Industrial Design Association), RECOUP (Recycling of Used Plastics), the GTMA, SPE (Society of Plastics Engineers), PMMDA (Polymer Machinery Manufacturers & Distributors Association), the SPRA (Scottish Plastics & Rubber Association) and Plastics News Europe.