October 1, 2024
These Biobased Products Point to a Regenerative Future
ABOVE IMAGE:
KOUKOUTSI ECO MATERIAL
This hard, durable, water-resistant material is derived from the waste of olive cultivation on the Greek island of Lesbos, which has the largest olive grove in the world. The material has two ingredients—the hard, light-colored olive pip and the dark, crumbly olive core. When they come together, they become durable enough to make furniture, objects, and surfaces.
KOUKOS DE LAB
MAT CHAIR
This chair comes in two versions. In one, 75 percent of the shell is hemp, a rapidly renewable crop; the other version is manufactured from hemp and a type of marine plant called eelgrass. Both versions can be upholstered partially or fully, and the chair can stand up to intensive use in restaurants and educational facilities.
NORMANN COPENHAGEN
ESKER CHAIR
3D printed on demand from 100 percent regenerative bio-resins that are manufactured from agricultural waste, these chairs can also biodegrade rapidly under the right conditions, making them fully circular. Plus, the facility where they are produced operates solely on wind and solar energy
MODEL NO.
SHE COLLECTION
Created by Danish design duo Laura Bilde and Linnea Blæhr, SHE is a 100 percent wool carpet collection that pays tribute to the pioneering women artists of the 1930s and ’40s. The yarn for these carpets is spun from extra-long fibers in Ege Carpet’s own spinning mill, and the carpets are rated for heavy commercial use.
EGE CARPETS
EKOA VENEERS
This revolutionary biobased material for interiors started as a challenge to make a guitar with the performance of carbon fiber and the sound of old wood, without cutting a single tree or using any toxic inputs. Ekoa’s veneers and panels can replace wood, plastics, laminates, and metals for all kinds of interior surfaces—they mimic the look of wood but have a higher strength-to-weight ratio than steel.
LINGROVE
ALDER COLLECTION
Patricia Urquiola designed this indoor-outdoor furniture collection out of Matek, a patented material developed by Mater, which combines biodegradable plastic derived from sugarcane with coffee waste and wood fibers. At the core of each Alder piece is a 94 percent recycled steel frame. The two components, the Matek shell and steel frame, can be disassembled easily at end of life to be composted and recycled, respectively.
MATER
materusa.com
SØULD WALL
This new acoustic material is made from eelgrass, collected from the shores of Denmark and dried naturally. Once dried, eelgrass endures for more than 300 years, so these acoustic products can be fully recycled into other products at the end of their use. Søuld offers an NRC rating of 0.65 when directly mounted on walls or ceilings.
SPINNEYBECK, FILZFELT
spinneybeck.com, filzfelt.com
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