In collaboration with furniture manufacturer Nordic Comfort Products (NCP), design company Snøhetta has created a chair with a body made from 100% recycled fishing industry plastic.
With plastic wastes such as worn-out fish nets, ropes and pipes provided by fishing companies located in Northern Norway, the plastics are processed and grounded into a granulate so that it can be injected into a formwork to create the body of the chair. Called S-1500, the chair’s subframe is also made from recycled steel.
“Due to its production technique and varying plastic compositions, the pattern of each chair will be unique, even though the chair will be mass produced,” said Snøhetta. “Its matte, pebbled, dark green surface bears resemblance to marble. It tells the story of plastic that has been on a journey as fish nets in the North Sea, to the production facilities of NCP and eventually ends up as a chair in a school, a home or a public facility.”
S-1500 is a structural redesign of Bendt Winge’s classic R-48 chair. Said to have the lowest carbon footprint on the market, Snøhetta hopes that S-1500 will “inspire people to employ waste material in new and sustainable ways through innovation and design”.
“The aim has been to understand plastic as a material, its journey and footprint in the value chain, as well as its inherent qualities,” explained Snøhetta. “A key ambition is to shift the public’s attitude towards used plastic, from regarding it as waste to seeing it as a valuable resource that should be employed in new ways once it has served its original purpose.
“In order to reduce the need to produce new, virgin plastic, consumers and industry need to acknowledge the value inherent in used plastic and find ways to substitute virgin plastic with recycled material.”
To learn more about Snøhetta, click the link below.
