A circular movement is forming, which both Ege Carpets and Gabriel are taking part in by continuously striving after keeping materials in closed loops.
At Stockholm Design Week we introduced True Trash. The exhibition invites you to explore the potential of our overflowing waste streams and see trash as the beginning, not the end. Therefore, True Trash shows examples of discarded materials turned into pieces of art and new functional products that once again can be turned into new products or be completely decomposed.
No time to waste
Our planet’s natural resources dwindle, and landfills turn into mountains of litter contributing to constantly increasing CO2 emissions. Man-made products that’ll eventually be thrown away aren’t sustainable options. Instead, we must see waste as a treasure for our future innovations. Many designers, entrepreneurs and manufacturers are already exploring waste as their primary resource and have become great inspiration to change mindsets, practices and processes.
Read on to learn:
What’s in your trash
Why trash is treasure
How to transform trash to textiles
1. What’s in your trash
Unbelievable amounts of waste are thrown away. However, everyday leftovers, production residues and the constant flow of plastic waste are already being reused and reinjected into the value chain of new products. These circular innovations challenge us all in our private households and in our professional lives to rethink trash as something we must consider, keep and not least sort and turn into a valuable resource. Waste isn’t waste until it’s wasted.
Below there’s a sneak peek of 24 examples of trash that’s already being turned into new materials or products. Visit your local showroom to explore them all.
2. Why trash is treasure
Enjoy a short and sweet introduction to seven works of art or products created from waste materials. Feel inspired and rethink what to do with your own trash or reflect on how to specify trash-based pieces to your interior design project.
2.1 Personal Plastics
Royal College of Art textiles graduate Marie Bach Holm has a special talent for developing new ideas around materials or techniques. Personal Plastics is a study of form and material to explore how we can change perceptions of recycled plastic. The objects redefine the grey, mottled look often associated with recycling and some resemble paper, clay or glass.
2.2 Ege Felt
When producing our carpet tiles, off-cut waste is unfortunately generated. But it can gain new life as comfortable stuffing for cushions, mattresses and even sound-absorbing walls. The Ege Felt material’s thickness, hardness and appearance can even be tailored to the individual product.
2.3 Eros Torso
The Eros Torso vase from the Danish design brand Niko June is made from up-cycled plastic that’s individually heated and shaped by hand. Niko June works with different materials but avoid mixing materials together – because products made of mixed materials are more difficult to recycle.
2.4 Rebottled
Recycling empty wine bottles costs 85% of the energy used on producing new glass. By turning used glass bottles directly into new glassware, the Dutch company Rebottled has found a new way of recycling glass.
2.5 Forite
A research project between Belgian Studio Plastique and Norwegian Snøhetta led to the development of an actual process for recycling e-waste glass components. Together with Italian ceramic tile manufacturer Fornace Brioni, it resulted in the creation of Forite glass tiles.
2.6 Senilia
The Senilia lamp collection explores the use of coffee silver skin. A by-product from the coffee industry that’s estimated to reach 7,500 tonnes a year in Italy alone. High Society Studio collects the production waste from Italian roasting companies to make their biodegradable lamps.
2.7 Wasted
Wasted celebrates 30 optimistic and enterprising designers, makers and manufacturers who use waste as their primary resource, offering a rare glimpse into the embryonic world they inhabit. The author, Katie Treggiden, is a craft and design journalist with almost 20 years of experience in the creative industries.
3. How to transform trash to textiles
We believe in circular thinking and in keeping as many resources as possible in a closed loop. That’s why we constantly challenge industry standards and find new raw materials and methods of production.
Our close collaborator and showroom partner Gabriel has recently introduced the new Gabriel Loop textile-to-textile solution, that also inspires the way we think about waste. Through Gabriel Loop they collect and recycle industrial textile waste and transform it into new textile products that can be recycled again and again in an infinite loop. The first of the Gabriel Loop textiles is Renewed Loop – a beautifully vibrant textile in a subtle mix of light and dark shades, made from a blend of textile waste and postconsumer recycled polyester from plastic bottles.
Ege CircleBack: We take back your used carpets
At Ege Carpets, we’ve introduced the Ege CircleBack program for 10 of our best-selling collections where 98-100% of the components can be recycled into new products – for example, but not necessarily, carpets.
