Tom Ford and 52HZ: a prize of 1.2 million dollars to those who find the alternative to plastic bags

“The environment is in desperate need of a solution to the problem of plastic waste,” said the designer. But there is so much creativity, talent and innovation in the world. Just one formidable idea is enough and the impossible becomes possible ”

Today we all know that plastic must be recycled and that it is also relatively simple to do so by throwing the bottle of water or juice, the containers for take-away food and the packaging of the shipments in the special bins for separate waste collection. But what many of us are unaware of is that much of that plastic will never actually be recycled. Despite our good intentions, a large percentage still ends up in landfills and part of this goes to pollute our oceans. Of the 11 million tons of plastic that float here, 46% is composed of a thin film, that is the ductile material that we find in the packaging of sandwiches, in the transparent film for food, in the wrapping of magazines, in the air cushions, in bubble wrap and polyethylene bags on which the fashion industry relies to package its garments. You may have often found yourself throwing those plastic bags into the recycling bell without thinking too much, but the truth is that these are discarded as soon as they arrive at the recycling centers as they can jam the gears and cause serious delays.

This highlights the false belief that recycling is the ideal solution and therefore the urgent need to find an alternative material and, preferably, one that does not need to be recycled. Last year, Tom Ford announced a partnership with Adrian Grenier’s organization, Lonely Whale, and its 52HZ advisory division, in order to launch the Tom Ford Plastic Innovation Prize – a competition that would encourage designers, producers and inventors to create a biodegradable, cost-effective and scalable alternative to plastic in thin film format. The first prize of the 2021 edition is 1.2 million dollars and foresees the support of investors in order to introduce the product on the market by 2025. Applications are open today.

“Thin-film plastic enters our lives for just a moment and yet continues its existence as waste and never really disappears,” Dune Ives, CEO of Lonely Whale, explains in a press release. “The history of plastic began with an innovative award and the solution to the plastic pollution crisis can be found in the process that led to its creation”. (Ives refers to John Wesley Hyatt, who, in 1869, won the Phelan & Collender award for inventing celluloid – the world’s first plastic – to replace ivory in billiard balls). “As an activist organization capable of catalysing large-scale global change, the Tom Ford Plastic Innovation Prize represents an opportunity to create another new beginning and promote proportional solutions to the problem of plastic pollution,” he added.

Even before the pandemic closed recycling centers making single-use and thin-film plastics increasingly difficult to avoid in our daily lives, globally, plastic consumption was already on the rise and is estimated to grow by another 40. % over the next ten years. By 2050, there will likely be more plastic than fish in our oceans. When Tom Ford learned how much of this comes from the fashion industry – 1 to 5 billion poly bags are thrown away every year – he decided that action was needed. “Every single thing we buy is packaged in single-use plastic,” he told Vogue’s Nicole Phelps last November. “There is no end. Once your brain understands it, you see it everywhere ”.

Over the next few months, Ford will review the nominations received with a panel of judges including Andrew Forrest, founder and president of the Fortescue Metals Group and the Minderoo Foundation; Loop founder Tom Szaky; the stylist Stella McCartney; Livia Firth of Eco-Age; the young activist Melati Wijsen; Audrey Choi, chief sustainability officer at Morgan Stanley and others. They will work together with experts in materials science, ocean health and product development to ensure that the winning entry can realistically replace plastic in film format. Furthermore, a collaboration has already been signed with the Bioseniatic SM Laboratory of the UGA New Materials Institute to conduct field tests.

“There is so much creativity, talent and innovation in the world and it takes just one terrific idea and the motivation to invest in human potential and the impossible becomes possible,” said Ford. “I would like to encourage all investors who care about this cause to truly believe in their ability to change the world. The environment is in desperate need of a solution to the plastic waste problem and it is up to us to work together to develop an innovative solution that makes our world a safer place for future generations “.

Applications are open from today until 24 October on www.plasticprize.org