Materials generated through a company’s day-to-day operations do not always have to remain outside the production cycle. In many cases, they can become the starting point for new uses, applications and products adapted to the organisation’s own needs.
This is one of the ideas behind Ecowear, Aquaservice’s circular economy project, in which CANUSSA LAB has taken part by developing warehouse product identification boards made from discarded components from dispensers and coffee machines.
Aquaservice’s Ecowear project
In 2024, Aquaservice launched Ecowear, a circular economy initiative developed in collaboration with different companies and organisations with a strong social, inclusive and environmental focus.
The project was created to make use of materials generated by Aquaservice’s own activity, such as uniforms, tarpaulins, advertising materials and components from dispensers and coffee machines. Through this initiative, more than 10,000 kilos of materials have been recovered and transformed into new products for internal use.
Beyond resource recovery, Aquaservice’s Ecowear project offers a practical way to apply circular economy principles: identifying materials already available within the company, sorting them and working with specialised partners to give them a new purpose.
CANUSSA LAB’s role
As part of this project, CANUSSA LAB contributed to the transformation of discarded dispenser and coffee-machine components into boards used to identify products in warehouses.
The goal was to develop a resistant, practical tool suited to the daily operations of Aquaservice’s teams. For this reason, the work focused not only on the source material, but also on the final function the product needed to fulfil.
This collaboration reflects CANUSSA LAB’s approach to circular design projects: analysing available resources, understanding their technical possibilities and turning them into solutions with a clear purpose.
A new use for ABS
The material used was ABS, a plastic found in different machinery components from Aquaservice. Known for its strength, durability and versatility, ABS offers interesting possibilities for the development of new products.
Before transformation, the components need to be prepared by removing elements such as metals, electrical circuits and rubber parts. Once the material was ready, the challenge was to create a dry-erase board that was easy to clean, portable and suitable for warehouse use.
The result is a functional piece that allows this material to be reintroduced into Aquaservice’s own operational environment, giving it a new application within the company.
Circular design in practice
Design played a key role throughout the process. For a circular solution to work, the final product must be useful, durable and aligned with the context in which it will be used.
In this case, the boards had to respond to very specific needs: easy cleaning, resistance, usability and portability. That is why the development process started with an analysis of ABS and the role the product needed to play in the warehouse.
This process reflects CANUSSA LAB’s methodology: analysing, adapting and designing concrete solutions from materials that are already available.
A collaboration with impact
CANUSSA LAB’s collaboration in Aquaservice’s Ecowear project shows how sustainability can be integrated into internal processes in a tangible way, through concrete and functional products.
With the creation of Ecowear, Aquaservice reinforces its identity as a company built around circular economy principles, applying them across its operations in a transversal way. For CANUSSA LAB, the project is an example of how design can add value to the transformation of existing resources, starting from the real characteristics of each material.
Initiatives like this also open the door to new forms of collaboration between companies, designers and specialised organisations, where sustainable innovation is applied to everyday operational needs.
Aquaservice’s Ecowear project reflects a practical way of understanding sustainable innovation: starting from available materials, studying their potential and turning them into products with a clear function.
The collaboration between Aquaservice and CANUSSA LAB in the development of boards made from discarded dispenser and coffee-machine components demonstrates that circular design can be applied to real needs within the business environment.
Because the value of a material does not end when its first use is over. Very often, a new stage begins when its potential is understood beyond its original function.
