Where industry surplus gets a second life and innovation turns into design.
10 exhibitors took up the challenge, giving recycled and surplus production materials a new life through original design objects that combine creativity, ingenuity and functionality.
Inspired by Danish design traditions, these creations offer a fresh perspective on sustainability and show how materials that might otherwise go to waste can become meaningful and stylish objects.
Discover all the creations here, and see them live in the Foyer of Level 0 during the event.
SCAN · VOTE · HAVE YOUR SAY
During the event, scan the QR code or use the event app to vote for your favourite.
What was the challenge?
Create a functional or decorative object using recycled or surplus materials, safe for handling and exhibition, and up to 100 × 100 × 140 cm.
Each exhibitor could submit up to three objects, with one eligible for the award.
And the winner is…
The winner of the Intergraf Design Awards
will be announced during the Dinner Party on Thursday evening.
1. Segmented sleeve vase & lamp
Concept
The decorative segmented sleeve vase & lamp made from a recycled electroformed nickel shim sleeve originally used in precision micro- and nanomanufacturing. With a dual-purpose design, it acts as both a subtle ambient lamp and a vase holding decorative flowers meticulously crafted from real banknotes. Laser-cut patterns and integrated holographic elements transform this industrial material into captivating light effects, giving it a second life while showcasing innovation, sustainability, and the craftsmanship at the heart of the security printing industry.
Holographic foil remnants
Aluminium base
2. Cosy stripes
Concept
The artwork Cosy stripes, comprises nine framed paper collages in different sizes. Each collage is individually designed using different types of paper scraps, resulting in distinct compositions with their own unique visual identity. Together, the artworks celebrate the versatility of paper as a creative medium and celebrate the beauty of giving discarded materials a new life.
Printing Plates
Printing blankets
3. Billex 13 - stool
Concept
Inspired by the industrialised Billex concept, this bespoke stool is crafted from moulded shredded EverFit® banknotes. Its four legs represent thirteen years of proven innovation across four references, embodying durability, trust, cost efficiency and circular design. Only screws are added for assembly, while the leg reinforcements are made from recycled metal.
Mechanical screws for assembly
Recycled metal leg reinforcement
4. Furniture crafted from end-of-life polymer banknotes
Concept
SECOND LIFE BEYOND THE BANKNOTE.
Polymer banknotes are made to last. But their value doesn't have to end when they leave circulation. At the end of their life, polymer banknotes can be collected and 100% recycled into durable products for everyday use – like this chair. Recycling 10 million end-of-life polymer banknotes can prevent around 15 tonnes of CO₂ from entering the atmosphere, avoid the felling of approximately 200 trees and remove a further 6 tonnes of CO₂ from the atmosphere each year. But recycling is about more than numbers. It gives old banknotes a new purpose, transforming them into products made to last, designed to live on and be used and enjoyed by communities every day. A banknote may leave circulation, but its story doesn't have to end there.
5. Table drape
Concept
This high table turns the manufacturing process itself into part of the design. Molten polymer from the beginning of an extrusion run is poured over a circular tabletop and allowed to flow over the edge. As it falls, the polymer solidifies, capturing the movement of a textile drape in mid-air.
The resulting folds combine the softness and fluidity of fabric with the strength of polymer. Each table captures a unique, unrepeatable moment in the manufacturing process.
Polymer from extrusion startup, applied molten and allowed to solidify freely
Circular polycarbonate tabletop
Reused trade fair table (Covestro booth K-fair 2016)
Wing bloom lamp - not eligible to the vote
Concept
Wing bloom interprets the extrusion process as an act of growth. The petals are created from the extruder's purge run, each shaped by the natural flow and cooling of the material. Arranged in a circular composition, they unfold like an abstract blossom.
Only the process was designed; the form itself was not. The result sits somewhere between sculpture, lamp and vessel, making each piece unique and impossible to reproduce exactly.
Makrofol® ID white polycarbonate (PC) films collected at the end of a production run, formed by free flow and solidification
Wooden structure
LED lightbulb module
Floor lamp cocoon - not eligible to the vote
Concept
This floor lamp transforms industrial surplus into a new design language. Layered polymer films, set aside during production, are shaped through heat and folding into an organic structure that surrounds the light like a protective cocoon. A solid wood base offers a calm, Scandinavian counterpoint. Each form emerges from the material itself rather than from a drawing, so no two lamps are alike.
Layered Makrofol® ID polymer films, surplus from Covestro production, formed by heat and hand-folding
Reused solid wood
LED module
6. Rewoven glow
Concept
Rewoven glow transforms recycled polycarbonate off-cuts into a striking woven lampshade. Inspired by traditional basket weaving, strips of discarded material are interlaced around a metal drum frame, revealing the colours, textures and security features within the material.
Unused woven hinge material is repurposed as a decorative fringe, adding texture and movement. When illuminated, the woven polycarbonate creates a play of colour, transparency and light, demonstrating how manufacturing waste can be transformed into a functional and contemporary design piece.
AI-generated image
Long strips of discarded polycarbonate sheets and woven hinge materials around a metal drum frame
7. The SAFEGUARD® sunglasses
Concept
A banknote's first life is one of value, trust and resilience. Its second life can redefine that value. Crafted from recycled SAFEGUARD® polymer banknotes & integrated with polypropylene from other recycled streams, The SAFEGUARD® Sunglasses is just one example reflecting the creative possibilities of recycling end-of-life banknotes, supporting the circular economy. Stylish, practical, protective.
The SAFEGUARD® seats - not eligible to the vote
Concept
Once a light, delicate banknote, now a sturdy, practical object. The SAFEGUARD® seats demonstrate the scalability of recycling end-of-life SAFEGUARD® banknotes. The polypropylene from multiple sources demonstrates the easy integration of banknote waste into the global recycling economy, introduced into an existing production line, reinforcing viability for broader industrial application at scale.
The SAFEGUARD® security tag - not eligible to the vote
Concept
What once held value, now holding identity, access, trust. A familiar, everyday item, The SAFEGUARD® security tag contains recycled polypropylene incorporating end-of-life SAFEGUARD® banknote shred. It can seamlessly integrate into the global recycling ecosystem and substitute conventional materials. The item itself can be fully recycled at end-of-life, supporting a continuous circular lifecycle.
8. Dandelion — a transforming light sculpture
Concept
Giving decommissioned banknotes a second life, Dandelion is a light sculpture made of fans from recycled banknote paper. Some can be detached and used as handheld fans, echoing the flower's ability to transform - turning the sculpture from a source of light into a tool for cooling. From material to form, from form to function: Dandelion explores how design can adapt to a changing environment.
Metal (Aluminium)
Magnets
Synthetic material
9. "Fragments" - Sculpture PC recycle project
Concept
Fragments invites us to see plastic differently. The sculpture demonstrates how a material often associated with waste can be transformed into something meaningful, expressive, and beautiful.
For POLYVANTIS, the project is a powerful way to show the potential of LEXAN™ polycarbonate sheet beyond its original use. It brings together material innovation, creativity, and sustainability, illustrating how recycling and reusing plastics can open the door to new possibilities.
By turning polycarbonate into art, Fragments encourages us to rethink what we consider waste – and to imagine what it could become.
Artwork in collaboration with the Italian Artist Davide Dall'Osso
80% recycled LEXAN™ polycarbonate sheet material
20% virgin LEXAN™ polycarbonate sheet material
10. SILKI chair
Concept
SILKI brings high-security innovation into everyday design, transforming waste into certified, beautiful materials. This single-piece, 3D-printed chair is made from a biodegradable polymer compound enriched with Pulvera silk powder and embedded with Stardust Secured optical tracers for supply chain traceability.
The chair carries an unforgeable signature certifying 100% post-industrial origin.
REKRILL biodegradable polymer
Stardust Secured optical tracer