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2022/10/15
Sunward Upcycles retired train parts into backpacks
Sunward Ltd., headquartered in Osaka City, designs, produces and sells bags and pouches. It is also actively involved in upcycling waste materials into its own brand name products. In August 2022, in collaboration with the Kobe City Transportation Bureau, it released a line of backpacks for children and adults made from the parts of retired subway cars. Their developed products that are not only earth-conscious but also functional and excellent in design will become a must-have item for railfans.
Upcycling substandard fire hoses
90% of Sunward's overall business activities consist of producing other companies' brand products as OEM, while the remaining 10% is for the in-house products which focus on SDGs or Sustainable Development Goals. Sunward has been committed to upcycling since 2011, when it introduced bags made from out-of-spec fire hoses that were otherwise disposed of. The following year, the company built its own factory in Shiga Prefecture, east of Kyoto, to manufacture its own SDGs-focused products.
President Tomoyuki Ikeda said that as the growing interest in the SDGs has increasingly brought attention to these goods, "More and more news outlets are covering our products." He added that his company's involvement in working with people with disabilities, which started in 2013, has been drawing media attention, too. It has also developed ECOPET TWILL LINE, a recycled fiber made from used PET bottles, in collaboration with Teijin, a major Japanese chemical manufacturer.
Joining upcycling project of retired trains
Sunward's first SDGs project involved fire hoses. Due to strict manufacturing standards, fire hoses with the slightest error or blemish are deemed out of specification. As a result, many hoses have been disposed of as industrial waste. Sunward made the most of the durability and water resistance of materials used for hoses to upcycle the to-be-wasted hoses into practical and vivid bags in red, blue, yellow, and other colors.
In its second project, Sunward partnered with public transport company Osaka Metro to use the parts of retired subway cars to produce backpacks. In general, the serviceable life of subway cars is 30 to 40 years. In 2021, the subway operator kicked off a project to upcycle the parts of retired cars into various goods. Sunward participated in the project to produce bags using a hanging ring and gangway canvas. In March 2022, the company released its new bland "RAU-RAU-G HAITETSU."
Recreating train face
Based on the knowledge gained from the above experiences, Sunward is promoting the upcycling of retired car parts. "It is found that many train cars are destined to be scrapped regularly," said President Ikeda. "We thought railroad companies throughout Japan were facing similar problems in handling the scrapped cars. So, we have been approaching them with a variety of solutions." Kobe City Transportation Bureau is one of the operators which contacted Sunward, which decided to work with the bureau. The collaboration came to fruition as the second "RAU-RAU-G HAITETSU" bland, which was sold through the crowdfunding site "Makuake" until August 30, 2022.
The backpacks for adults are available in blue and green, inspired by the 5000-series subway cars on the Kaigan Line running along the seaside of Kobe and the 1000-series cars on the Seishin-Yamate Line running through the uptown area, respectively. The children's version, intended for those from the walking age to senior children at elementary school, features the front face of each train. Both backpacks include various ideas with excellent functionality and design.
Mariko Tomita, who is in charge of designing the children's version, said, "We exactly recreated the front face of the train. A pocket is provided inside the backpack to store the train's hanging ring that serves as a handgrip when not in use. Also, we use transparent vinyl chloride to recreate the front window of the train in order for the stored ring to be visible from the outside. Although it can be covered with other goods stored in the pocket, we hope users enjoy a sense of fun."
The bottom of the backpack is made of a durable, water-resistant gangway canvas. The canvas has three layers as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) sandwiches woven fabric in the middle. This structure, which provides strength, can also be seen in the strap on the hanging ring. Meanwhile, the material of the ring generally differs between trains. The ring used on this bag is made of polycarbonate (PC).
Asked what the most difficult process for production was, he answered, "It took a lot of time to design the bag and select the right materials for the bag's shape so that railfans would like our product. The most backbreaking task is washing gangway canvas." The president himself is in charge of it. "I am occupied with the task on weekends. I'll have to wash more and more canvases in the future," he said with a laugh. In October 2022, small items such as pouches and tote bags made from the fabric of the train chairs were also debuted.
Projects with other railway companies in Kobe, Kobe Electric Railway and Kobe New Transit, are also underway. Sunward is working on expanding the scope of upcycling the parts of retired railcars and planning to do crowdfunding for producing body bags and sacoches (lightweight and compact shoulder bags that can carry a minimum of valuables).
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