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With a cellular structure that has the potential to be adaptable and variable, ranging from lightweight to robust.
to shape the recognisably surrounding area of his famous Egg chair.
Foam is a “substantial issue”
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When it comes to creating a comfort surface, polyurethane foam is the absolute master of that,” he added. “You can pour stuff into a mould and out comes something comfortable.
and public health.
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“Polyurethane is the result of two petrochemicals, which are produced as by-products of the oil industry, making it extremely cost-effective, yet highly polluting,” she said.
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As this material is a type of thermosetting polymer, it cannot be melted and reshaped in the same way that some other plastics can be.
At the moment, polyurethane foam can only be recycled if it’s broken down into a very fine powder and blended with more raw material, or if it’s chemically broken down.
Suffering isn’t recyclable,” said Lloyd. “It simply incinerates.
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To put it in perspective, every year, 40 million mattresses – the equivalent of stacks 904 times the height of Mount Everest – reach the end of their life,
This material is “extremely detrimental to your well-being”
Polyurethane foam is also a public health issue. As a highly flammable material, it can easily catch fire at temperatures as low as 550 degrees Fahrenheit.
This leads to ‘dangerous levels of heat and toxic smoke’ being released into the environment when it burns, as noted by Sandberg.
in the late 1980s.
“There have been numerous tales about houses catching fire due to someone carelessly dropping a cigarette on their sofa,” said Lloyd.
But it appears the fire retardant is actually highly carcinogenic,” he said. “The prevailing opinion is that the harm caused by the retardant is worse than the potential harm caused by the fire itself.
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And admissions certainly affect us all everyday.
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So, even if you were to disregard the issue of fossil fuels, it’s not an advisable material to have in your home or in the waste we throw away.
There is a growing demand among designers for alternatives, although this is not without its challenges.
from bioplastic.
“It’s rather challenging to compete with this, as sustainable materials are generally 30 to 100 per cent more costly than conventional materials,” she added.
It’s a similar comparison to the quality and price of food. If you’re looking for organically farmed and high-quality vegetables and meat, it can sometimes be twice the cost of conventional supermarket produce.
foams incorporating diverse densities. Sandberg and her team utilise raw materials sourced from waste streams to curtail costs.
The material is manufactured in sheet form rather than big blocks, or moulded into precise shapes, and can be modified to contain a minimal number of air pockets to guarantee a dense seat that will not easily lose shape over time, the designer explained.
This material, which had a core of coconut fibres bound together with latex, comprised two natural alternatives to polyurethane.
We re-established the comfort depth by reverting to traditional manufacturing methods dating back a century.
I do feel we’ve become a bit complacent”, he went on. “I’ve never seen that high costs necessarily mean a barrier to being sustainable. I think that’s a simple excuse.
The company’s upholstered furniture has now become polyurethane foam-free – a project that Coakley said took more than ten years to bring to fruition. As a result, the brand is now using materials such as latex, feathers and recycled wool as alternative filling options for its furniture.
“Our point of view is that the most effective way to tackle the issue of polyurethane foam is to completely eliminate it from the supply chain,” said Coakley.
as promising alternatives – from projects employing fungi and bacterial growth to the bioplastics her studio is renowned for.
“First and foremost, it’s really important that these alternatives get the backing of major companies,” said Hvillum.
It is, in the end, a decision we as consumers must make about where we choose to put our hard-earned money. Consequently, it is a bit unfortunate that furniture manufacturers do not give us, their customers, more options when we are selecting, for example, a new sofa.
“The idea of wanting extended longevity on materials seems rather contradictory to our preference for organic ones, and it’s even more puzzling when considering our consumption habits,” she pointed out.
“Instead of opting for synthetic materials that scream they are made to last an eternity, when actually they may not,” the designer added.
It’s possible that we may have to abandon the flexibility to shape something into whatever form we desire,” said Lloyd. “Because shaping materials that aren’t polymers can be quite challenging.
The challenge posed by foam and minimising its occurrence raises practical issues that call into question some basic assumptions for designers, as he claims.
“There’s another argument, which is that if you make something sufficiently appealing, it will be kept. And I believe that’s a load of rubbish. I think we can no longer rely on people’s preferences,” he said.
Perhaps five per cent of furniture retains its worth because it possesses some cultural significance that suddenly compels people to think, ‘that chair has to endure for a century’.
The Egg chair may endure, but all the other products alongside it that weren’t so great – it is those that create the problems.
It’s a pretty tricky issue to get to the bottom of. And it’s not simple to find a solution,” concluded Lloyd. “However, it’s also an exciting time to be a designer.
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Depth
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