Sustainable Materials Library 永續材質圖書館

The Sustainable Materials Library (SML) was established by the Plastic Industry Development Center in 2020. From a material life cycle perspective, SML considers the materials that pollute the environment, the consumption of energy/resources, and difficulty in recycling, etc., and further select and sort into seven different types of materials, such as plastics, fibers, rubbers, metals, minerals, natural materials and others. Through the SML platform, the designers can look, touch and feel the special features of each material, also the developers in materials can grasp the information of market demands.

Sustainable Materials are defined as all materials that are in the stages included from collecting the raw materials, product manufacturing, the process of use and recycling of reusable materials with a minimum loading and harmless to the global environment and human health. The following is the features of sustainable materials:

．Low hazard material: eight heavy metals, plasticizer, pollutant emissions
．Energy-saving resources: low carbon, low materials consumption, foaming (lightweight), less volume (can disassemble or fold), natural materials (renewable resource), water-saving, durable (or increase of service life)
．Easy to recycle: recycled materials, single material, easy to disassemble, recycling system, decomposable…

To stimulate a new mindset on sustainable environmental protection, SML will be matching the industrial chain collaboration, also provides the service on manufacturing the prototype, begin with a concept or idea, material selection, and then produce small batch production, to fulfil the sustainable design concept for the product.

2020年，財團法人塑膠工業技術發展中心全新創立永續材質圖書館(Sustainable Materials Library, 簡稱SML)，目的以材質全生命週期的角度，考量該材質對環境的汙染性、能源/資源的耗用及回收處理的難度等，篩選分類為七大類：塑膠、纖維、橡膠、金屬、礦物、天然材料及其他類，讓設計師可以真正看到，摸到，感受到每個材料的特殊性，也讓材料開發商可以掌握市場需求的資訊。

永續材質被廣泛定義為：「在原料採集、產品製造、使用過程和使用後的 再生循環利用階段中，對地球環境和人類健 康負荷最小、最無害的材料可稱為永續材料」，永續材料包括下列特性：

．低危害物質：八大重金屬、塑化劑、汙染物排放…
．省能資源：低碳、低材料消耗、發泡(輕量化) 、減低體積(可拆解或摺疊)、天然素材(可再生資源)、省水、耐用(or延長壽命)…
．易回收：回收料、材質單一化、易拆解、有回收系統、可分解…

本館媒合產業鏈合作，提供試製打樣服務，從商品概念發想、材質應用的選擇，到小批量的試製，將永續設計的理念落實到商品上，以激盪永續環保的新思維。