A few months ago, a series of images showcasing a quirky and stylish teal-hued watch went viral on social media. Shortly after, it won an award at the New York Product Design Awards 2023 in the Watch Design category. The Recycled Ocean Plastic Watch or Reco was launched by Iranian product designer Pouya Hosseinzadeh, founder of Pouya Studio. This novel accessory was conceptualised to raise awareness about the pollution caused by plastic waste in the oceans. Plastic bottles that are collected manually from the ocean are used to make this chic accessory. Reco is available in three hues—teal, yellow and light pink and is water-proof, making it particularly suited for water sports like surfing and swimming.

Hosseinzadeh is an advocate of a zero-waste lifestyle and hopes that the Reco Watch encourages others to change their consumption patterns and live more environmentally sustainable lives. “Every year, millions of tons of plastic end up polluting the oceans, threatening and endangering wildlife. It takes centuries for plastic to degrade, and during that time, it can contaminate both the soil and water sources. Based on this, I came up with the idea to create a watch for living a zero-waste lifestyle. Reco is a new design that invites consumers to think, make responsible choices, and change their consumption habits,” mentions Hosseinzadeh.

Established by Hosseinzadeh in Tabriz, Iran, Pouya Studio specialises in product design, 3D visualisation, and brand identity design. Their recycled products are objects that question the prevailing standards of how things are supposed to look or function. With Reco, the product designer not only raises awareness about plastic pollution in oceans but also upcycles it to create a trendy watch. The main inspiration behind this watch was to start looking at sustainability as a more holistic concept.

With this eco-friendly watch, Pouya Studio hopes to lead the way in creating visually arresting and practical accessories that are environmentally sustainable and have a reduced carbon footprint. While it is made of discarded plastic bottles, it features an overall fashionable and sleek visual language. Moreover, recycling plastic is often quite difficult because of its low density and low value. Additionally, there are several technical issues to overcome when recycling or upcycling plastic. However, Hosseinzadeh was able to successfully upcycle plastic bottles collected from the ocean to make the Reco Watch. “Reco is a sustainable, eco-friendly mechanical watch designed and developed to raise awareness of the world's ocean plastic pollution problem by aiming to recover plastic waste from the environment and reprocessing it to become a symbol for change with the ultimate goal of cutting down on ocean waste and turning it into a statement watch. Incorporating sustainable materials, the inspiration behind Reco is the pursuit of a greener life with an environmentally friendly mission of removing plastic from the oceans and using it for something valuable by creating watches manufactured with ocean-bound plastic,” adds Hosseinzadeh.

When the Reco Watch reaches the end of its life, it can once again be recycled. Thus, though this range of watches was made from mass-produced plastic, it exhibits the circular product design concept and can easily be upcycled. This striking watch was born from the designer’s wish to execute sustainable design and take it a step further into the limelight. "All plastic used in designing the Reco Watch is ethically collected from oceans and adequately cleaned and recycled. We begin by collecting plastic bottles from the ocean. The next step is to sort and shred the plastic bottles and upcycle them into granules. Subsequently, we use these granules to craft the Reco watch. Each Reco watch is made from 10 ocean plastic bottles. If we launch 10,000 watches, we will prevent 100,000 ocean waste plastic bottles from entering the ocean and shores. With the innovative design of the Reco Watch, we hope to provide eco-smart alternatives to the world. Upcycled to incorporate contemporary design, this is a win-win for our consumers and planet,” concludes Hosseinzadeh.

The designer's goal was to craft a product to reduce waste and upcycle discarded plastic bottles in a more meaningful and stylish way. This not only gives a second life to the material that is not biodegradable and would otherwise contaminate the ocean but also helps to reuse it towards beautifully designed products made for everyday life. Thus, the upcycled design of the Reco Watch skillfully showcases a marriage of innovation and sustainability.