PLOYS - Creative Concepts in Disguise is run by husband and wife team Carin and Gerhard and it’s primary focus is reducing plastic waste by recycling pool inflatables into unique and practical products, such as bags and purses. Pool inflatables and similar soft PVC products such as air mattresses, lend itself perfectly for repurposing through a circular loop of reintroducing it back into society into a better form.
Within PLOYS Carin holds the creative streak while Gerhard runs the IT and marketing side of the business.
PLOYS originated from having discarded pool toys that were either punctured or “just not played with anymore” on the side of our pool at home. We just could not throw away all this plastic, knowing that PVC is one of the worst products to decompose, taking up to 1000 years to disintegrate! This however also tells us that it is a sturdy and durable product to repurpose into something else.
As pool toys is our primary product, we thought it should be represented in our company name. PLOYS = Pool Toys, and it reflects our mission of repurposing, a PLOY: “A clever action designed to turn a situation into it’s own advantage”.
PLOYS started with making pencil cases and purses, following this is was a natural progression to make tote bags and shopping bags. Now the collection also includes smartphone cases, toiletry bags, swim or sports bags (pull cord bags) and messenger bags. Watch this space we like to say!
In January 2023 PLOYS achieved their first Tonne of recycled pool inflatables!!
Ploys has really become a community initiative with all of our PVC being donated from the community. From like minded war-on-waste, No-plastic-waste people throughout Australia who donate PVC by dropping it into us in one of our collection points or by posting these to us. See also the info on our site about donating PVC.
Materials we recycle: PVC from pool inflatables, air mattresses, rubber boats and umbrella fabric. We have even repurposed a marine rescue life raft and a bouncy castle as one of our bigger projects! 💚♻️