They transform building waste into 100% recycled design furniture

They have a clean design and do not require an engineering degree to be assembled or disassembled. But these shelves manufactured in the Toulouse conurbation have the particular advantage of being designed from 100% waste from the construction industry. The idea germinated a few years ago in the minds of four young architects from the Pink City, exasperated to see countless tons of unused materials going to the dumpster.

“We said to ourselves that we had to reuse them. We have thus found a deposit of rebars in a company in Colomiers from which we recover the offcuts, when there is an order error or when they are not straight enough. Until now, they left in a dumpster to then be remelted at 2,000 degrees. However, this transformation is very energy-intensive. We are proposing to divert its use with very little use of energy”, explains Thomas Combes, one of the four co-founders of Sunflower furniture.

Iron rods are recovered to be reused in the construction of Tournesol furniture. – Sunflower

After finding the uprights to make their furniture, they thought about the shelves. They then turned to a company in Fenouillet which manufactures very resistant composite panels used for cladding facades and whose scraps are very numerous during machining. Until now, this waste, never used, was buried. Now they have a second life. Like the plastic connectors that make it possible to assemble the different parts, also from recycling.

Mass production

After launching a few years ago in bespoke furniture, assembled from A to Z in their Toulouse workshop, they decided to launch their range for individuals. In presale on Ulule until October 12, these shelves called “Zero”, for “zero carbon, zero waste and zero effort”, are currently produced in small series. Modular models whose prices range from 149 to 299 euros depending on the size.

The four partners hope to convince consumers of the merits of their approach. “We calculated that the production of one shelf was the source of only 12 kg of CO2 emitted. It is produced with 100% waste that comes from a maximum of 10 km around Toulouse”, pleads Thomas Combes who, with his associates, has kept an architectural activity in parallel. But not just any: their office specializes in the reuse of building materials. When an old house is destroyed, they are able to sort out the old beam that can be transformed into furniture or the old window frames that can find a second life elsewhere.

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