REUSE, RECYCLE, REPURPOSE!
Creating a ‘circular economy’ – taking materials that would otherwise end up in landfill and repurposing them into new and beautiful pieces – is a crucial way to lessen waste.
‘For me, true sustainability is about breaking the cycle where a material is dug out of the ground to make a product that is used and then thrown away,’ says Andrew Edge, who recently launched online shop Rechic, which only sells textiles, furniture, lighting and accessories made from recycled materials.
Rechic’s cushions are created using a yarn made from recycled plastic called PET. ‘It’s made from plastic bottles that have been shredded, melted and turned into a beautifully soft yarn,’ says Andrew.
Recycling plastic is one of the key aims of manufacturers and an increasingly sophisticated range of products is now being produced. Habitat has used PET to make its first Eco-duvet. Sainsbury’s Home’s new bedlinen range, Sleep More Sustainably, is made using REKOOP© recycled polyester (and cotton) made from plastic bottles with a total of 48 500ml bottles going into a double plain duvet set.
The super-stylish Ocean chair and table, originally conceived by iconic designer Nanna Ditzel, has been remade by Danish company Mater from fishing nets – one of the greatest sources of ocean pollution and hard plastic waste. One chair uses 960g of ocean plastic waste and has been specifically designed for easy dismantling, so that each piece can be recycled once again.
The use of recycled fabric is also growing. ‘When compared with using virgin material, it saves water and reduces CO2 emissions,’ says Andrew, whose cushions and lampshades are made from recycled fabric.
Designers Guild’s Tejo fabric is 100% recycled, woven in Italy from yarns from the Italian fashion industry, and is used in Heal’s Mistral sofa.
Meanwhile, Habitat’s rugs, made from fabric offcuts from the Indian fashion industry, have seen a 110% increase in sales over the year.
Closer to home, the architectural salvage and design business Retrouvius recently worked with a third-generation stone mason in Northamptonshire to create beautiful lamp bases from offcut pieces of Derbyshire fossil limestone and other stone remnants, all of which had been destined to be thrown away.