Sargomma taking creative route to rubber sustainability

Brussels – An innovative design project led by Sargomma Srl has gained funding under an EU programme to foster transnational collaborations between designers, creative people, SMEs, craftspeople and technology firms.

The Italian rubber components maker was among a select group of successful applicants for funding under the WORTH II Partnership Projects scheme, said a recent posting on the European Commission website.

For its Outside-In project, Sargomma, which specialises in making gaskets and hoses for the automotive industry, collaborated with artist Alessandro Ciffo of Italy-based XXI Silico.

The partnership with Ciffo, who has been working with silicone rubber for 20 years, led to the creation of a sustainability-based concept, called SKIN, for interior and exterior design applications.

According to the EC report, SKIN prototypes, which have already been shown in Dubai and Milan, contain a percentage of reused ground components derived from rubber waste.

The partners, it added, also met designer Daria Biryukova from Studio Mixtura in Austria, who recognised many possibilities in combining Sargomma's rubber waste with Ciffo's virgin silicone.

Outside-in is said to be highly scalable and offer many application possibilities, including curtains, space dividers and wall coverings, fashion items, electronics accessories and playground surfacing.

The next step for the project partners is to enhance the industrialisation process through developing a more efficient production process and supply-chain for the materials and pigments used in end-products.

The Sargomma-led team also aims to send a message to “all rubber industries to introduce and standardise the reuse of rubber and rubber waste” and increase levels of innovation and sustainability in this area.