As Stig Maasbøl, CEO of ScanCom International, our parent company, explains:
“This is not just a chair or collection… It is, in fact, a whole story about how to change the world in our industry and make a social and environmental impact at the same time. That’s huge!”
So, why is this such a step-change? In the thousands of years since humans first started making furniture, the basic criteria has remained the same. The one major change over time has been to focus more on comfort, as our society evolved beyond mere survival.
Plastic is still a huge problem for our environment, communities and wildlife. The world produces about 400 million tonnes of plastic waste a year, but plastic is being recycled at an even lower rate than previously estimated. At least 75 million tonnes of plastic are already in our oceans.
How do we do this? We teamed up with Plastic Bank and the world-leading environmental charity the Eden Project to revolutionise how we treat waste materials. Our Nassau furniture collection is created from discarded plastic bottles that have been gathered from beaches and waterways.
By giving plastic waste value, we’re bringing abandoned materials back into the supply chain for another lease of life. This helps to reduce pollution, preserve precious resources, save energy, and cut down on rubbish in our natural environment.
Not only is every Nassau chair made from the equivalent of 175 recycled plastic bottles, but our work makes a real difference to the lives of vulnerable coastal communities, who become collectors in Plastic Bank’s ethical recycling system.
The collectors remove plastic waste from their local shorelines and in return receive a stable income and assistance with family essentials such as groceries, school tuition, health insurance, cooking fuel and more. Exchanges are recorded through a blockchain-secured platform that enables fully traceable results and reporting.
“To achieve change, the world needs a community of like-minded entrepreneurs with an abundance of nature-positive ideas and solutions,” says David Katz, Founder of Plastic Bank. “Only together can we bring about a Renaissance of circularity for the materials we use and create a regenerative economy. We can lay the foundations of a purpose-driven society where we listen and provide for each other and the planet.”
Here at LifestyleGarden®, we’re on a mission to bring even more eco innovations to the Global market. The Nassau furniture set isn’t the first time we’ve used recycled plastic waste – back in 2019 we launched the pioneering DuraOcean® chair. This was the first mass-market piece of furniture crafted from recycled marine waste. Design-led and manufactured to the highest possible specifications, these chairs soon became contemporary classics.
By harnessing the power of discarded plastic and giving it a new lease of life, we – and our customers – are helping to remove waste from the natural environment. Anyone who chooses the collection will be bringing furniture home that makes a real difference in the world.
Our ultimate goal? A world without ocean plastic.