Plastic waste that has ended up in the Amsterdam canals is given a new lease of life as office furniture. Plastic Whale, an organization that fishes PET bottles from the water, revealed this week the first furniture collection in which the waste was processed.
Collecting waste in the canals of Amsterdam (Netherlands). Photo by: kbacflooring
Plastic Whale turns plastic waste into office furniture
The collection consists of a conference table, chairs, lamps and wall panels. In addition to cleaning the canals, Plastic Whale wants to give economic value to discarded material. A part of the proceeds goes to other projects that prevent plastic waste. Vepa produces the furniture line, Lama Concept is responsible for the design.
"Plastic Whale has been scanning the canals for dumped bottles and initially made new boats out of them. The counter is now on more than 100,000 bottles of PET bottles, so the project is expanding to the market for office furniture. 'There are many companies that want to make a positive contribution to a cleaner environment," says initiator Marius Smit.
The Drenthe furniture manufacturer Vepa processes the bottles, among other things, upholstery and foam sheets for new conference tables. Some thousand PET bottles are needed per table. In order to prevent the furniture from ending up with the bulky waste itself later, the company gives a deposit to customers who return discarded items.
Lama Concept is responsible for the design of the collection in which circularity is central and the walwis served as a source of inspiration. Yvonne Laurysen, co-owner of Lama Concept, says about the design 'For the whale, the plastic soup is a big threat. We have translated characteristic elements of the whale into the designs. Think, for example, of the look and feel of the distinctive house, the fatty tissue and the impressive skeleton.'
By: Astrid de Wilde, de Architect. Cover photo: #Plastic Whale, Social enterprise.
Photo's by: Plastic Whale.
https://www.whatsorb.com/category/waste