Partnership aims to innovate and reinforce sustainability in the Brazilian plastics industry with advanced international strategic design methodologies
Professor Carlos Teixeira, Director of the PhD Program at the Institute of Design; Carlos Moreira, INP Executive Director and Think Plastic Brazil CPO; and Marco Aurélio Lobo Júnior, coordinator of the Global Green Design hub at Think Plastic Brazil.
Photo: Promenade Comunicação
Think Plastic Brazil, together with the Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology (Chicago), signed a Letter of Intent on December 9, 2025, for international cooperation in strategic design. The goal is to strengthen research, education, and design practice to bring innovation and sustainability to the converted plastics industry. The signing took place at an event at Braskem’s Cazoolo space in São Paulo.
Think Plastic Brazil is a portfolio of solutions for the converted plastics sector in the internationalization process for target markets, carried out through a partnership between ApexBrasil (Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency) and the Brazilian Plastic Institute (INP).
The document marks the start of an international institutional and academic cooperation aimed at strengthening research, education, and strategic design practice, with an emphasis on innovation and sustainability in the plastics converting industry. The partnership provides for the development of joint research, workshops, seminars, and training programs aimed at entrepreneurs and innovation leaders, as well as connecting Brazilian companies with advanced design methodologies used in international academic environments.
“One of our future goals is to increasingly empower the industry within the axis of strategy, innovation, design, and sustainability. Signing this letter with the Institute of Design consolidates the start of this goal. We will contribute to the strategy industries have for 10 years from now and how they can grow sustainably, incorporating ESG principles and innovation through design across their operations,” states Carlos Moreira, Brazilian Plastic Institute Executive Director and Think Plastic Brazil CPO.
The agreement was signed by Carlos Moreira and the Director of the PhD Program at the Institute of Design, Professor Carlos Teixeira, a Brazilian based in the United States and a global reference in strategic design applied to industrial transformation. Signing as witnesses were Marco Aurélio Lobo Júnior, coordinator of one of Think Plastic Brazil’s hubs, Global Green Design, and Daniela Viana, Think Plastic Brazil Market Development Analyst. The event began with a visit to Cazoolo to explore the space, followed by a lecture by Professor Carlos Teixeira, and concluded with the signing ceremony.
“Signing the letter initiates a collaboration in the design training process for companies in the plastics sector here in Brazil, so that we can bring this methodology, this knowledge on integrating design into companies. The idea is to show how companies need to develop intelligence on how to apply design in projects, an internal capacity to be able to innovate through complex projects and thinking within the entire production chain,” explains Professor Carlos Teixeira.
GLOBAL GREEN DESIGN
The partnership arose from contact between Dr. Marco Aurélio Lobo Júnior, coordinator of Global Green Design, one of Think Plastic Brazil’s hubs, which promotes innovation, sustainability, and design excellence in the plastics industry, and Professor Carlos Teixeira. Global Green Design encourages research and development of environmentally responsible and economically viable products capable of meeting global market demands and driving the sector’s advancement in a sustainable and competitive manner; the signing of the letter consolidates another step towards bringing the hub’s objective to Brazilian companies in the sector.
“This agreement symbolizes a new chapter for design in the Brazilian plastics sector. Cooperation with the Institute of Design in Chicago brings us closer to the most advanced global practices in innovation and sustainability to work together with companies in the sector, offering the possibility of approaching the U.S. market with a strategic design perspective,” highlights Marco Aurélio Lobo Júnior.
INSTITUTE OF DESIGN
Founded in 1937, the Institute of Design (ID) is considered the cradle of modern design in the United States and one of the world’s most influential schools in the field of strategic design and social innovation. Integrated into the Illinois Institute of Technology, ID was a pioneer in introducing methodologies that unite design, technology, and management, having trained generations of professionals and researchers who shaped contemporary thought on design focused on solving complex problems.
The initiative reinforces Think Plastic Brazil’s commitment to the sustainable transformation of the industry, aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the growing integration between design, innovation, and the green economy.
Carlos Moreira
Brazilian Plastic Institute Executive Director and Think Plastic Brazil CPO
About Think Plastic Brazil
Think Plastic Brazil started its activities with 38 companies and, over the last 20 years, has expanded its participation to more than 250 companies. During this period, the Portfolio promoted the participation of 4,773 companies in the industry in 240 projects specifically for Trade Promotion, resulting in 64,366 meetings. The economic impact was significant, with more than US$1.247 billion in business generated and a total investment of US$12.338 million, achieving an impressive ROI of US$101.04 for every dollar invested.
For those interested in buying from Brazil and contacting Brazilian companies associated with Think Plastic Brazil directly, please contact cristina.sacramento@thinkplasticbrazil.com and daniela.ornelas@thinkplasticbrazil.com via email or visit the website (https://thinkplasticbrazil.com/en/home-en/). Think Plastic Brazil is a non-profit, non-commissioned organization that can facilitate your direct contact with Brazilian producers.
About INP
Founded in 1989, the Brazilian Plastic Institute – INP arises amid the process of globalization and the need to make the plastic market more competitive internationally. Its strength and representativeness are the results of the union of the Brazilian Processed Plastic and Recycling Industry (ABIPLAST), the Brazilian Association of the Chemical Industry (ABIQUIM), and the Union of Synthetic Resin Industries in the State of São Paulo (SIRESP).
As a sectoral technological body, the INP’s is to be the focal point for the entire plastics production chain in Brazil. To this end, the body maintains an extensive workforce qualification program, promotes access to the most modern technologies, especially for small and medium-sized companies, and develops Technical Standards so that products with better quality be manufactured.
About ApexBrasil
The Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil) promotes Brazilian products and services abroad and attracts foreign investments to strategic industries of the Brazilian economy. To reach its goals, ApexBrasil carries out diversified trade promotion actions aimed at promoting exports and valuing Brazilian products and services abroad, such as prospective and trade missions, business roundtables, support for the participation of Brazilian companies in major international fairs, and visits by foreign buyers and influencers to learn about the Brazilian productive structure, among other business platforms that are also focused on strengthening “Brazil” as a brand.
The agency also acts in a coordinated manner with public and private actors to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) to Brazil, focusing on strategic sectors for the development of the competitiveness of Brazilian companies and the country.
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