Colorful office furniture

Take a Step toward Circularity with These Products

Discover 10 products that make use of recycled, recyclable, or renewable materials or are designed for reuse, disassembly, and repair.

Circularity is the ultimate goal for sustainable buildings. To get to a circular economy, we need to embrace incremental progress with the same enthusiasm as quantum leaps. Ideally, architects should build with circular products, materials, and components that become part of, or even food for, future buildings.

Major breakthroughs in biobased and biodegradable materials such as mycelium, wood lignin, and cellulose might free us from the challenges of fossil fuel–based plastics and complicated recycling processes.

But we’re not quite there yet. So far, there’s no magic bullet for designing waste out of projects, but shifting our choices away from products destined for landfills and toward those with components designed for future lives is a great start. For this survey we’ve chosen circular products that exemplify solid progress toward a circular future—whether that’s making use of recycled, recyclable, or renewable materials or products designed for reuse, disassembly, and repair.

More demand will drive more innovation. Your suppliers are listening.

ABOVE IMAGE:

IN OUT OFFICE

This versatile collection is expanded with new dining and armchairs, modules to extend its sectional, a table with storage, armrest accessories, and a sun lounger, all in eco-responsible aluminum offered in up to 88 colors.

ANDREU WORLD

andreuworld.com

Colorful laminate

KORA

TFL (thermally fused laminate) furniture and millwork panels with printed paper veneer surfaces can be finished just like wood. Unlike wood veneers, KORA offers 100 percent face-grade wood-grain designs with zero waste and still accommodates custom stain colors and finishes. Its engineered wood core utilizes waste from sawmill and other wood processes.

FUNDER AMERICA

funderamerica.com

Black and brown credenza

AP CREDENZA

Handmade in Nicaragua from sustainably harvested
hardwoods from the company’s own reforestation projects, Masaya Co.’s AP Credenza is designed for the rigors of hospitality projects. To date Masaya has planted over 1,000,000 trees on over 1,200 acres of previously deforested land in Central America, and those numbers keep rising.

MASAYA CO.

masayacompany.com

BROOM CHAIR IN NEW COLORS

Emeco’s Broom Chair, by Philippe Starck, is made from 75 percent waste polypropylene and 15 percent reclaimed wood that would normally be swept into the trash. Ten colors are now available: Dark Grey, Green, Natural, Orange, White, Yellow, Butter Yellow, Terracotta Orange, Sage Green, and Light Grey.

EMECO

emeco.net

Bloombox

LEDALITE BLOOMBOX

BloomBox uses high-efficiency LED technology to provide more light using fewer fixtures. Low-glare optics and less ceiling clutter make for a more positive occupant experience, the company says, and replaceable components allow for easy repair and reuse, extending BloomBox’s functional life

SIGNIFY

signify.com

REWOOD

Most engineered wood panels in North America are made with waste from sawmills and furniture operations, but Rewood particleboard from Tafisa takes circularity one step further by incorporating 30 percent postconsumer wood fiber. This advanced wood refining process saves the equivalent of 2 million trees per year. 

TAFISA CANADA

tafisa.ca

BOTTLEFLOOR

A hybrid floor with a felted appearance blending advantages of both hard and soft surfaces, BottleFloor offers slip resistance and acoustic absorption, and can withstand heavy traffic and rolling loads. Every square yard of BottleFloor contains an average of 62 recycled plastic bottles, and it’s 100 percent recyclable.

SHAW CONTRACT

shawcontract.com

EX2 COMPACT

Compact laminates are thick carbon-negative decorative panels made from layers of kraft paper saturated with resins and pressed under heat, essentially creating wood fiber–based solid surface materials. Widely used for indoor and outdoor tabletops, worktops, and lab tables, variants are also used for exterior building cladding. 

LAMITECH

lamitech.com.co

VERUSO LINO

Veruso Lino is one of the first fully biodegradable wallpapers, consisting entirely of plant-based raw materials that require only a very limited amount of water to grow. No artificial dyes are used, so it has a warm, neutral natural hue. Partially visible plant fibers create a delicate structure.

WALLPAPER FROM THE 70S

wallpaperfromthe70s.com

QWEL

Form meets function, quietly. Qwel acoustic ceiling and wall tiles raise aesthetics while lowering the din in workplaces and commercial spaces. Formed from PET made with 50 percent recycled water bottles, Qwel panels are 100 percent recyclable, flexible, and Clean Air Gold Certified while weighing half as much as mineral fiber panels. 

QWEL

qweltiles.com

Photography: COURTESY OF THE MANUFACTURERS

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