Van de Sant Innovations designs and manufactures furniture using an unconventional ingredient – discarded plastic.

Van de Sant Innovations has discovered a way to reintegrate plastic waste into the value chain. The company designs and manufactures furniture that is made from discarded plastics, collected from both land and oceans. All the components of the furniture contain reused or recycled ingredients, including the foam filling and fabric covers, meaning each piece of furniture is composed of about 75% recovered materials.

The company also works closely with Bionic in furniture production, who makes fabrics, yarns, and threads from recycled marine plastic. Van de Sant Innovations designs the furniture and builds the frames, and the stylish fabric coatings are produced by Bionic.

The furniture is designed with durability in mind, in order to tackle the stream of low cost, low quality furniture ending up as waste. Recycled plastic can be easily manufactured into furniture and has ideal characteristics of durability and resistance to chemicals and corrosion.

Due to their remoteness, small populations, and lack of available land, small island nations struggle to manage waste streams. This is exacerbated by pressures from large tourism industries. This means there is an urgent need to reduce waste volumes and make value chains more circular.  

Responsible production and consumption
Reintegration of waste into the value chain through recycling can improve the management of natural resources and shrink waste streams.

Life below water
100% of Van de Sant Innovations’ furniture mainframes are made from collected ocean plastic waste, that can pose threats to marine life.

Life on Land
The furniture industry uses over two billion trees each year. Replacing wooden components with plastic can help halt deforestation.