Design and construction of the first fully reciclacle ski

Abstract

One of the major concerns from the EU (European Union) in 2020 is a global transition towards a more circular economy, where the waste generated in one industry becomes a secondary raw material for another field. This project proposes a new and innovative solution for the ski industry. A fully recyclable ski has been designed, manufactured and tested with the aim of reaching a new level of environmental sustainability and move towards a near-zero waste generation state. In order to achieve these goals, two different prototypes have been developed in this project. The first one allowed to focus on the most relevant aspects of the ski design and manufacturing process; while the second one, tackled the recyclability aspects of the ski. Finally, a novel ski-binding joint system has also been developed. This allows the user to disassemble and reattach the binding several times without deteriorating the joint. As a consequence, there is no need to buy an additional ski in case the user wants to acquire different binding models (e.g. one for touring ski and another one for alpine ski). This design also keeps in track with the main idea of the project of having a more sustainable ski industry. Since fewer skis would be needed to be manufactured, the environmental impact would be considerably reduced.