Project Circleg

Fabian Engel and Simon Oschwald are Swiss industrial designers who want to improve people’s lives by following circular economy principles. Founders of Project Circleg, they use high quality, reinforced, and certified recycled plastic to build low-cost with high functionality lower-limb prosthetics for above-knee and below-knee amputees in developing countries. By establishing a local closed-loop material cycle with partners in the plastics recycling and manufacturing industries, they aim to launch Circleg prosthetic system in 2022 in East Africa.

Project Circleg prosthetic is currently being developed in Kenya and Uganda, and Tanzania and follows procedures outlined by the European Medical Device Regulations to ensure safety and quality for their customers. In addition, the company provides an adjustment and repair service to customers to ensure that the prosthesis can be reused for a longer period of time. Their modular design can be adapted to the user in terms of size and color.

Project Circleg Models — © Project Circleg

The company plans to make 50 units for its “Series Zero” batch ready for local testing throughout 2022, as it prepares for industrialization and market launch with Hospitals and non-profit organizations in 2023. Discussions with five production facilities in East Africa are currently underway, and in Switzerland, the team will be collaborating with testing facilities for quality checks.

Project Circleg's Prosthetic Mechanism — Project Circleg’s Prosthetic Mechanism © Project Circleg

Per the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 0.5% of the global population are in need of prostheses, orthoses, and rehabilitation treatment which represents an equivalent of 35–40 million people. Only 1 out of 10 people in need have access to low-cost assistive products, including prostheses and orthoses. Not having access to these essential products, many individuals are living excluded lives at home and rely on others to assist them in their needs. In addition, the low-cost prosthetic solutions currently available in the market have poor functionality, comfort, and most of them rely on donations.

“Project Circleg is more than just a prosthetic system. It is about empowering people to enjoy freedom of mobility, to generate social and the environmental values, and to celebrate diversity in all shapes and colors. Our values are aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).” - Project Circleg

Project Circleg contributes to 10 out of 17 SDGs, with a core emphasis on freedom of mobility for disability inclusive development.

In addition to tackling the medical challenge, Project Circleg is also creating an alternative market for locally recycled plastics. Project Circleg partners with Kenyan recycling company Mr Green Africa who provides them access to local certified raw materials that are cleaned, broken down into small pellets, sorted according to color and combined with glass fibers to create lightweight, high-quality artificial limbs components. In the future, Project Circleg plans to establish mobile local hubs across East Africa to distribute its prosthetics in rural areas and create more jobs for the locals and amputees.

By using recycled plastic waste collected locally in combination with simple production methods, the Project Circleg prosthesis can contribute to positive life changes for vulnerable, disabled communities. Waste is turned into a tradable resource and brings value to the local economy by creating jobs that can generate income for local communities.

Project Circleg Materials © Project Circleg

References:

Engel, F., Oschwald, S. (2021). Project Circleg. Affordable lower-limb prosthetic system made of recycled plastic waste. Zurich University of Arts. Retrieved from: https://www.zhdk.ch/en/researchproject/project-circleg-561405

Project Circleg. (2022). Retrieved from: https://projectcircleg.com/about/

Startupticker. (September, 14, 2021). Affordable prosthetics for Africa. Retrieved from: https://www.startupticker.ch/en/news/affordable-prosthetics-for-africa

Swissinfo. (September, 2019). Giving amputees hope through recycled bottles. Swiss Broadcast Corporation. Retrieved from: https://play.swissinfo.ch/play/tv/sci--tech/video/giving-amputees-hope-through-recycled-bottles?urn=urn:swi:video:45172528

WHO and USAID. (2017). Standards for prosthetics and orthotics. Retrieved from: https://www.who.int/phi/implementation/assistive_technology/prosthetics_orthotics/en/

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