There is a huge potential for environmental benefits in rethinking furniture design in a more circular and sustainable way. It is estimated that approximately 10 million tonnes of furniture are discarded annually in the EU, according to Fremtiden i våre hender, with the majority not being reused but sent for incineration.
Now, NORSUS colleagues Pieter Callewaert and Valentina Pauna have worked directly with furniture designers at Odd Thorsen AS to better understand the process required to develop "Norway's most circular sofa".
A cross-sector collaboration success
The pre-project, called "Vår sirkulære sofa – fra vugge til vugge" (Our Circular Sofa – From Cradle to Cradle), is an excellent example of how cross-sector collaboration benefits both parties – enabling them to share perspectives and learn from one another.
The pre-project produced more questions than answers, creating an exciting basis to build on for future projects related to circular and sustainable furniture design.
One answer stood out clearly, though: Making our furniture consumption more sustainable is more complicated than it may seem. The proposed solution of reupholstering old sofas, for example, is not necessarily a viable option because of its high cost – often exceeding the price of a new sofa.
Thinking materials first, then design
Instead, ensuring more sustainable furniture in the future might require rethinking the design process entirely.
An important keyword in circular furniture design is flexibility, the pre-project shows.
While the traditional design process usually starts with developing a design and then choosing materials for it, circularity in furniture production needs to take into account the availability of materials.
Material supply is one of the biggest elements of uncertainty when making furniture out of reused materials. Therefore, designers need to select materials first, and then adapt the development of the design accordingly.
More knowledge needed
Another conclusion of the pre-project is the need for future work in the areas of design and research – especially in how to transform reusable materials into new furniture in an economically viable way.
The pre-project revealed that there is a stable supply of used furniture being discarded, without a plan for what to do with the reusable materials.
Hence, the challenge is not material availability. Rather, it lies in the lack of design expertise required to transform these materials into attractive, marketable, and mass-producible furniture.
Solving these challenges could be important next steps towards "Norway's most circular sofa".
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