Design research applicability on Portuguese Industry
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abstract
The present paper works on the potential applicability of design
research based on a practical experience with the Portuguese
company Recipor — Recuperação e Valorização de Resíduos
(residues recovery and valuation), S.A., who’s mission is to collect,
treat and valuate in a profitable way plastic residues e non iron
metals, with domestic or industrial origins. The ecological appeal,
the economical recovery process and the innovation investment
justified the choice and the decision of taking this company as a
subject to study design’s influence on building and confirming it’s
corporate identity and in the implementation of design culture and
thinking. The empirical search on collecting processes, treatment
and application of residues took place at the company’s premises.
From the direct contact with raw materials, equipment and finished
products we developed a quality based methodology study. The
results denoted a strong relation between the company’s vision,
the organizational strategy and the market’s affection for recycled
products. This triangulation allowed a favourable environment for
a temporary inclusion of a design investigating team, and leads
to the understanding that, as the high-level project orientations
were exposed, the expectation increased and acquired a more
instrumental format with strategic effects. Grounded on data from
field literature we draw the path of thermoplastics in general and of
PVC specifically. We must highlight the growth of the investment
made in collecting and recycling; the birth of a European network
of certified recycling companies and the enormous applicability of
this material on artefact production. This project’s boundaries were
established by practical challenges introduced by the company’s
direction; namely the optimization of the plastic reel products. The
team’s proposals were the result of the adopted design process.
