Likely, your bathroom is covered in plastic. From the shampoo and conditioner you use every day to the disposable razors and toothbrushes you buy at a regular clip. And in case you just woke up from a decade-long coma, plastic is a huge problem, and 91% of it never makes it into a recycling bin.
We could lecture you about the lie that recycling is or about how the system is fundamentally broken. However, some companies do exist that still treat plastic as a raw material, something that can be collected and transformed into new materials. If we’re to transition into a more circular economy, it’s imperative that other brands jump on board and utilize these abundant substrates.
Handle in a new startup that collects discarded beauty packaging from salons, barbers, and their clientele, taking the waste and working with their partners to recycle those materials into new products. In Handle’s case, they repurpose those empty plastic bottles into a premium range of beauty accessories. All the handles in their line of razors come from recycled plastic, having a beautiful marbleized pattern that looks both high-end and chic. If Handle can’t use the plastic waste they’ve collected, they sell the material back to brands and manufacturers, so it gets utilized by them once again.
To communicate their mission, Handle turned to IYA Studio to create their visual identity and packaging design. Taking a nod from the liquid-like patterns formed on their toothbrushes, mirror, and razors with globular ovals etched out onto the boxes. Even the typography utilizes a sans and a serif, highlighting the process of reusing different materials to create something entirely new. Additionally, the packaging gets made from recycled materials, and once done with your toothbrush and the box it came inside, you can send it back to Hande so they can use it once more.
Innovative solutions to plastic waste are critical. In a pandemic that saw a dizzying increase in the material, it's essential that consumers look to more brands with a circular and sustainable mission. If we’re ever going to get a handle on it, now’s the time.
