Lufthansa Cargo and IRED Honored with German Design Award

At the award ceremony of the German Design Awards on February 3 in Frankfurt, Lufthansa Cargo and the Frankfurt Institute for Recycling, Ecology & Design (IRED) were crowned winners in the category “Excellent Product Design Lifestyle and Fashion” for their joint Upcycling Collection. As part of the collaboration, high-quality merchandising products such as luggage and keychains, trays, vases, wall coat racks, and pen holders were locally designed and manufactured in Germany from decommissioned air freight containers.

(Frankfurt) Lufthansa Cargo sells these design objects alongside other items through their fan shop launched last year. In the production of the products available in the fan shop, there is also a collaboration with the workshops for disabled people (WfB) in Bensheim. Lufthansa Cargo donates the entire proceeds from the fan shop to Cargo Human Care e.V., a non-profit organization that has been promoting social aid projects in Kenya for over 15 years.

Authenticity, durability, and resource-saving utilization of materials – all these attributes apply to the innovative design objects of the Upcycling Collection, which also tell a story. This was also the judgment of the expert jury, which honored the excellent and exemplary design achievements within the category “Lifestyle and Fashion”: “The original merchandising products of the ‘Lufthansa Cargo Upcycling Edition’ are made from the aluminum of decommissioned air freight containers, with scratches and patina giving the objects a special aesthetic and uniqueness. An excellent example of upcycling design that emotionally unites beautiful products with striking storytelling.” The German Design Award has been the premium award of the Council for Design since 2012 and is one of the most prestigious awards in the design landscape.

“Only in November did the first products of our new Upcycling Collection go on sale, and the response from aviation and design enthusiasts has been overwhelmingly positive. We are extremely pleased with the award from the German Design Award. It is a great recognition of our innovative idea to give a new use to materials that have served us well in the freight business for a long time. The professional collaboration with the IRED Institute and the donation concept of the fan shop complete our holistic sustainable approach to a local and social partnership in this project. All products are ‘Made in Germany’ and 100 percent of the proceeds from the sales benefit Cargo Human Care,” explains Christina Franz, project manager of the fan shop at Lufthansa Cargo.

Photo: © Lufthansa Cargo