Using ocean plastics in office chair production?

Ocean plastic is a very hot topic right now. Eight million tons of plastic enter the ocean every year, the equivalent of a truckload of plastic being dumped into the ocean every minute. These plastics start a long and destructive journey from the moment they enter the ocean.

Plastic entering the ocean is carried over great distances by ocean currents. They can be found all over the world, even as far away as Antarctica and the deepest Mariana Trench on Earth. As they drift with the current, they can infiltrate ecosystems and cause immeasurable damage to marine life.

Figure 1 Global production, use and fate of resins, synthetic fibers and additives, 1950-2015 (in millions of tons, Geyer et al, 2017, Sci. Adv.)

Last year, furniture company MillerKnoll gave its iconic Aeron workchair an eco-friendly makeover, adding more than two pounds of recyclable Marine plastic. Now, Goodtone, an office furniture brand, has incorporated eco-friendly ideas from Marine plastics into its product development and design.

Even though Goodtone has not yet fully developed a chair made of marine recycled materials, we still insist on using green and environmentally friendly materials in our products. For example, in this arico, in addition to the aluminum alloy material we have seen, the backrest and chassis of this office chair are made of PP.

Polypropylene, or PP for short, is a semi-crystalline thermoplastic. It has high impact resistance, strong and tough mechanical properties, and is resistant to various organic solvents and acid and alkali corrosion. It is one of the common polymer materials. In 2013, the global market for polypropylene was about 55 million tons. Plastic coins in the UK, Australia and Canada are also made from polypropylene. Secondly, it is used as a recycling resource. In the plastic classification logo, the PP code is 5. It must be listed on the bottom of the plastic body or on the packaging so that consumers and recyclers can sort them properly.

Let’s take a look at the exploded view of the materials of this chair- Arico, and we can see that most of them are environmentally friendly materials.

Picture 2  Environmentally Friendly Materials

The design of this chair is different from other leather office chairs. It is a slim office chair, and you can get it in your pocket for less than $300! If you are interested, you can browse other chairs on our official website.