EGGS Design’s client BEWi Energy winner of the Doga Award

EGGS Design and their client BEWi Energy have had the honour of receiving the DOGA Award for Design and Architecture for the design of the Bewi Smart Protector. The smart, flexible tubular pipe protector adapts to a variety of pipe dimensions and thread standards, which enables reuse and recycling of the plastic protectors, potentially saving 100 000 tons of plastic from being discarded every year.

“This is top notch innovative industrial design based on a solid business model. In other words, exactly what Norway needs.” says the The DOGA Award’s jury

Going from 100 000 tons of discarded plastic to a circular value stream

To protect the threads on oil pipes during transport, plastic covers are used on each end of the pipes. The industry uses 160 million protectors yearly, of which the majority are discarded. This represents a total of 100 million kilos of plastic every year. To help reduce the problem, BEWi Energy with EGGS Design’s help have developed a solution – The Smart Tubular Protector. The product protects new and old oil pipes and fits a number of different dimensions and patents. This facilitates for the customers, as it reduces the number of variations of protectors from 1000 to less than 50. The flexible and plastic-only design enables the protectors to be introduced into a circular material stream. BEWi has already entered into a distribution agreement with the Australian company Evolve Surplus for delivery and recycling of the tubular smart protectors.

The jury’s verdict

BEWi Energy won the award with the following motivation from the DOGA Award’s jury:

“BEWI Smart Protector is perhaps the opposite of flashy design, but it’s brilliant either way. It is cleverly designed and with solid execution. Everything indicates that this will be a commercial success in an oil and gas industry that is screaming for solutions that can reduce both climate impact and costs.

BEWI Smart Protector is awarded the DOGA Award for design and architecture for dealing with a fairly invisible, but nevertheless significant, environmental issue. This is a top-notch innovative industrial design based on a solid business model. In other words, exactly what Norway needs.”

About the DOGA Award for Design and Architecture

The award is a distinction awarded by DOGA to Norwegian businesses and designers who demonstrate the outstanding use of design and architecture. The award is leading to its kind in Norway and showcases and spotlights exemplary projects of innovative and user-centred solutions. The jury focuses primarily on the process and collaboration between the commissioning party and the design practitioner.