France’s Anti-waste and Circular Economy Law is a great example of cross-sectoral collaboration. Policymakers, municipalities, NGOs and businesses worked together with the public administration to identify a richer range of needs, solutions, and policy measures. As a result, the law is ambitious and contributes to a system-wide transition towards a circular economy.
Arapaha is a design company which develops and manufactures sustainable, circular household and sports items and clothing. It focuses on circular processes and uses biobased composites. Goods purchased in their webshop can be returned when no longer needed so that the components can be reused.
In Denmark, the interior design company Mater has developed chairs made out of brewery waste. The production method uses plastic waste and the grain left over from beer production at the Danish brewery Carlsberg.
Soeco Kontorsmöbler is a Swedish company that recycles and refurbishes office furniture. Its goal is to take furniture which would most likely be thrown away and transform it into an item that either looks like or is new.
REC.ON creates its production by recovering auto parts. Using a unique upcycling process, they transform used, unwanted parts of automobiles into new, high-quality, functional pieces of design, adding style and an industrial aesthetic to any interior. Moreover, they have a unique process of acquiring their materials.
The SAWYER project aims to facilitate the transition of European furniture companies to a more circular economy. The project ran from February 2020 to March 2021, studying the main legislative and voluntary instruments that can facilitate this transition.
The Facility Services Agency drew up an inventory of all the surplus office furniture from the various departments of the Flemish government. This made it much easier to give the chairs, desks and cupboards etc. a second life.
