Sean Phelan
Irish, Glasgow based product design engineer with a passion for sustainable consumer products and user centred design. I believe placing the user at the centre of the design process results in the best quality of product and allows design to be utilised and showcased in a way that benefits everyone involved. Sustainability is important to me and remains at the forefront of all my work. My final year project focuses on reducing the carbon footprint of footwear packaging.
Final Year Project: ReBox
With over 20 billion pairs of shoes shipped each year footwear packaging plays a significant role in the packaging waste problem. Most shoes are shipped in two boxes which are then discarded or recycled after a single use. ReBox is a reusable footwear packaging product which can be reused up to 10 times removing the need for single use and excess packaging. When a customer receives their footwear they simply unbox the shoes and then fold the ReBox flat so it can be returned easily and for free. The box is then cleaned, inspected and ready to ship the next pair of shoes in. Through a life cycle analysis it was found that this product system could save upwards of 900 million kg of CO2e per year!
