Winners Announced For Horners Awards 2024
After a record-breaking number of entries this year, the Horners Committee announced the winners of the BPF Horners Awards during a ceremony at GRIPS 2024, before they were celebrated at the Annual Banquet in Mansion House in October.
Plastics Innovation and Design 2024
Taking home the Horners award for Plastics Innovation and Design is Loughborough University’s ‘Next-Generation Additive Manufactured Police Body Armour’ which is set to revolutionise body-worn protective systems for frontline policing.
Loughborough university recognised that body armour development for frontline policing had stagnated, especially regarding knife and spike threats. They also noted that recent developments are typically with limited-to-no consideration of female users or individuals that have body shapes incompatible with traditional sizing - which leads to officers wearing body armour that is uncomfortable and less effective.
That’s exactly why researchers at Loughborough University developed and successfully demonstrated both polymer laser sintered and hybrid aramid-laser sintered body armour panels, capable of providing multi-strike protection against knife, spike, and handgun ballistic threats – in line with the UK Home Office’s Body Armour Standard. Their amazing innovation allows for the design and manufacture of bespoke protective panels capable of providing improved comfort, wearability, and overall protection to often neglected user populations, in particular female police officers.
Loughborough University were financially supported in this incredible innovation by MoD’s Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) – who do amazing work supporting low TRL research, and were a vital source of funding in this project.
Bottlemakers Award 2024
This year’s winner of the Bottlemakers Award was Hawkins Mutes with their Blowmoulded Brass Instrument Mutes.
Hawkins’ Mutes are crafted from high-quality ABS plastic, known for its durability and stiffness, giving exceptional acoustic properties. This choice of material not only guarantees the longevity of the mutes but also delivers a rich, warm tone that resonates with musicians and audiences alike. Interestingly, one of the key elements of production is their utilization of blow moulding, which not only ensures uniformity in each mute but also allows for intricate and complex designs that enhance the acoustic properties of the mutes, and increases the strength of the finished parts.
The Horners committee felt that the Mutes are a shining example of the excellence in design and manufacturing for which the United Kingdom is renowned, as at the heart of Hawkins Mutes' success is their UK production. The company's commitment to domestic design and manufacturing has not only bolstered the local economy but has also allowed them to maintain rigorous quality control standards.
David Williams Award 2024
This year’s David Wiliams Award (presented to those who make an outstanding contribution to society through plastics) rightfully goes to Isabel Payne for her invention of the SafiCase. Payne is a student at the Glasgow School of Art, who acknowledged the need for reusable sanitary products that can be safely maintained without electricity or running water. 
Payne discovered that a singular menstrual cup replaces 10 years’ worth of single-use sanitary products, and with around 500 million women relying on sanitary products being distributed monthly by charities, the menstrual cup should be an incredible alternative. However, research shows menstrual cups cannot be distributed due to the difficulties cleaning them without a large amount of clean water and a mains electrical connection – which is of course a big barrier in developing countries or areas of conflict.
That’s why Payne developed ‘Saficase’ - an all-in-one solution for both cleaning and sterilising a menstrual cup with minimal water. Made using medical grade silicone, HDPE, and PP (to create a safe sterilising environment and ensure longevity) the product uses a steam sterilising circuit powered by a modular solar battery base which only needs 15ml water and is charged with 24 hours of sunlight per month. The body of the case can also be used to mechanically ‘shake clean’ a cup with 45 ml water for convenient discrete cleaning.
The Chairman of the Worshipful Company of Horners Awards Committee Professor Stefaan Simons states:
“The record number of entries to our Awards this year signifies their growing relevance/ reputation in the plastics and polymer industries, and the desire for recognising the best the sector has to offer in innovation and design. We had some really novel applications and I am delighted that our winners represent the incredibly high-quality 2024 entries.
With laser-sintered police body armour from Loughborough University impressing the judges to win the Horners Award for Plastics Innovation & Design, the blow-moulded brass instrument mutes from Hawkins Mutes winning our Bottlemakers Award, and for the second time, the winner of the Horners’ Design Innovation in Plastics student design (Isabel Payne’s SafiCase) also winning the David Williams Award for Social Contribution through Plastics.
We also wanted to award two companies as Highly Commended this year… Abel and Cole and Hydropol Aquapak. Their amazing entries focussing on the circular economy of plastics - a topic receiving increasing attention from international pressure groups. It’s wonderful to see British companies and UK subsidiaries taking a lead on this.
I look forward to welcoming our winners at this year’s Mansion House banquet and to seeing their products achieve commercial success, as our previous winners have done.”
Entries are already open for the BPF Horners Awards 2025. Please find the details here: www.bpf.co.uk/horners
