Tag: furniture

Some jeans can be composted after use. Yet, in the Netherlands, a design and furniture company is investing in the circular economy, having developed a unique process which gives used furnishings a new lease of life. Tiny fibres, i.e. offcuts when jeans are recycled, are mixed with a water-based adhesive. The solution is sprayed onto the surface of newly...

Haute couture made from hair is a distinct possibility. Wool, meanwhile, isn’t just suitable for winter jumpers. The proof? Look no further than this England-based startup, which is using sheep’s wool to produce chairs. The team realised that fewer and fewer carpets were being made from the wool of two common UK breeds. Too good to be the waste...

Edible construction material may soon be on everyone’s lips. Now, an Italian-Ecuadorian design team is producing versatile new materials using agricultural waste from cocoa crops. Key to the enterprise: the beans’ outer shell. Their first product from crushed and pressed shell remains is a 12-15 cm thick chipboard perfect for furniture or component parts. Further products such as bioplastic...

Gin and whisky are saving trees from being felled. Apple leftovers or kombucha are also playing their part. In the USA alone, wood processing produces 100 tonnes of sawdust annually, which could be used as packaging material. A Massachusetts-based startup is manufacturing furniture, kitchen utensils and automobile parts from the valuable waste product. Their design pieces come from a...

Beer can be converted to electricity, waste from tequila production into compostable cutlery. Alcoholic drinks can be intoxicatingly sustainable. Now a startup from Dundee in Scotland is creating furniture from the waste materials from whisky, beer and gin distillation. Grain leftovers and other botanicals such as juniper berries, orange peel and cinnamon are collected and dried immediately after the...

In France, the law obliges companies to offer a repair service for electronic devices. A similar idea came to four women during a hackathon at Trinity College, Dublin. Their startup enables people to recycle old furniture in three easy steps. First, furniture owners upload details of individual items to the startup’s online platform. Next, artists choose a piece which...