Recycled chairs, tables, wardrobes, lamps, shelves in plastic, wood, metal, cork

The circular economy has been knocking for some time in the Office, in the form of design and construction of office and home furniture collections that are fully in line with respect for the environment and the recycling of the waste we produce.

The office furniture collections had always started from the use of virgin materials, both in plastic, in metal, in wood and in other materials, without worrying about the impact that these raw materials had on the environment, during the production, or what happened at the end of their life cycle as waste.

In recent years things have changed a lot and customers who want to buy chairs, tables, lamps, shelves, sound-absorbing walls and other accessories are careful to look for products that are ecologically sustainable.

Taking note of these market demands, the designers and the furniture industry have changed their design and production mentality, putting recycled raw materials at the center of their projects.

The beginning was certainly a little shy, as the manufacturers began to replace, for example in some chairs, the internal structures of the backrests and seats , being very careful to incorporate, almost hide, the recycled parts at the sight of the clients.

They declared that the products were made with the help of recycled plastic parts, but they were afraid that the combination of their product with a recycled raw material could diminish their commercial strength or the quality of the brand.

Subsequently, the market demand for recycled components became stronger and stronger, thus prompting designers to sign collections with express contributory evidence of recycled products.

Plastics from post-consumer have therefore been adopted for non-aesthetic pieces, such as PP, HDPE and PP / PE mixes, while for aesthetic parts, plastics from post-industrial waste such as ABS, PA 6 and 66, the PS, the PC and the PP.

A range of products that can fully satisfy customers’ needs in terms of robustness, aesthetic quality and respect for the environment, with a view to circular economy.

While compounds made with post-consumer plastics do not lend themselves to the variation of technical performance, such as the MFI, the Modul, the Izod and the light colors, the compounds made with post-industrial waste can easily replicate the technical and aesthetic needs obtained with virgin raw materials.

These types of recycled plastics can come from the domestic separate collection, from the cleaning of the plastic present in the oceans or rivers and from the scraps of industrial processes , being able to use them also in the construction, not only of chairs, but also of desks, tables, lamps, shelves , archives and insulating dividing panels.

In the perspective of the circular economy, there is not only recycled plastic as a construction element for office furniture, but also wood, especially that which has naturally fallen or is the result of continuous cycle cultivation, or the metal that comes from the collection ferrous and non-ferrous waste put back into circulation and cork.

The designers also got us used to extreme challenges, such as the project created by the Danish architect NikolajThrane Carlsen who designed and built furniture and office chairs, through the use of sea algae.

Or the project by the Icelandic architect Solvi Kristjansson who designed a chair using cork and rigorously recycled aluminum.

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Automatic translation. We apologize for any inaccuracies. Original article in Italian.