A collapsible road cone and investigators notebook made using recycled Kevlar from Police body armour.
Police and Te Kunenga Ki Pūrehuroa Massey University design students have teamed up to put old Kevlar to good use. Redundant armour plates from old out-of-warranty stab-resistant body armour (SRBA) have been recycled into a variety of items in a project designed to cut down on waste.
The armour-based creations of 25 design students are currently on display at Police National Headquarters in Porirua and an exhibition of selected pieces will remain in place for a few days.
Body armour is made to be hard to damage, which is great when protecting its wearer, but becomes a problem when disposing of it.
Inspector Geoff Logan, Police Operations Manager - Operational Capability says the standard practice globally for getting rid of armour plate is to dig a hole and bury it.
“We’ve got three tonnes of Kevlar armour awaiting disposal, so we thought there has to be a better way," he says.
The question was presented to third-year industrial design students at Massey’s School of Design in Wellington as a compulsory project.
“They were each given two hard armour plates and two sets of soft armour and told here you are – make something with this," Mr Logan says.
The students had six weeks to research, design and build items – and their products demonstrated an awesome degree of creativity and skill, from a sunglasses case to furniture. Some of the designs could be considered Police-specific, such as a Police-issue first aid kit to fit the available space in Škoda vehicles.
Other designs included folding road cones, a patient carrier for first responders and even a seatbelt cutting/glass-breaking tool.
Another design included a first aid kit to fit the available space in Škoda vehicles.
Associate Professor Lyn Garrett says this is something the university is very happy to be involved with.
“The students took the project and the materials into places we just weren’t expecting. We really appreciate our relationship with Police.”
Police has a long association with Massey’s School of Design, with a Memorandum of Understanding in place since 2017.
In the past, Police and the university have collaborated on projects including design of a new dog pod for Police vehicles and the uniform hijab for police women, which made headlines around the world.
Separately, police has been looking at ways of reducing waste from redundant uniforms and equipment.
This has included recycling initiatives, which started four years ago with a process to reuse Police buttons. Retired Police jerseys have been repurposed into blankets and potential uses for other obsolete items are being investigated.
Meanwhile, used but still usable items such as boots, forage caps and high-vis gear are donated to Pacific police services.
Republished with permission from New Zealand Police.
Related news
Operational hijab recognised for its social and cultural impact
An operational hijab designed by two Massey lecturers has been awarded the Tahunui-a-Rangi award by the Royal Society Te Apārangi.
Massey helps design NZ Police uniform hijab
The decision by New Zealand Police to introduce a hijab to their official uniform received worldwide attention, from the BBC to the Independent, and Massey University apparel design researchers helped to create this world first.
