HENRIK MARSTRAND FOUNDER OF MATER
‘When I founded Mater in 2006, sustainability was an afterthought – it was never embedded in the design from the start. I wanted to flip the industry and create a brand with a visible and transparent purpose. Our philosophy is based on ethical and circular thinking – looking at how you disassemble a product, how you then recycle, collect and process the materials to make new furniture once a piece ends its first life cycle. Our newly launched “Nova Sea Chair”, created for the interiors of hotel Villa Copenhagen, uses 96 per cent recycled plastic made from fishing nets. In total, the 800 chairs installed at the hotel contain 2.2 tons of polluting ocean waste, which has an amazing impact on the life below the water.
We’ve spent the last few years developing materials from post-industrial waste in collaboration with the Danish Technological Institute. This is unusual in furniture manufacturing, but it’s an expression of Mater’s commitment to supporting climate action. The technology led us to partner with a large Danish beer brewing company; we collected the spent grain from the brewing process (which is called mask in Danish), dried it and used the fibres to create a unique bar stool seat for the “Mask stool”. This groundbreaking new initiative not only saves emissions and resources, but also solves a significant waste problem for the brewing company.’ materdesign.co.uk
‘THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP TOWARDS A MORE CONSCIOUS FUTURE IS TO INSPIRE EACH OTHER AND CREATE PARTNERSHIPS. WE CAN’T SOLVE ALL THE ISSUES ALONE’