Available from early 2022: The Ocean Chair

Every year the world produces 300 million tonnes of plastic waste. It is a well-known fact that much of this plastic waste ends up in our beloved oceans, 8 million tonnes per year to be precise. We feel we have a responsibility towards our oceans to do better, for a better and sustainable future. That’s why we teamed up with studio APE to design a chair made out of 100% ocean plastic.

Clean design, clean oceans
The Ocean chair is a design in collaboration with the Amsterdam-based studio APE. This initiative is part of our sustainable mission: by 2030 we want to significantly reduce the use of virgin materials in our collection. The shell is made entirely from plastic waste retrieved from our oceans. The frame is made of steel, which is 100% recyclable. With its clean and organic silhouette and five unicolour options (coconut milk, brown rice, desert sage, black and, of course, ocean blue), the chair is every interior’s friend.

“During the design process of this chair, we envisioned a playful and light silhouette to address a serious, global problem of plastic pollution. For us, sustainability is a natural requirement, embedded in every design decision we make”- APE Studio

Sign-up for updates
Find out more about the progress of this conscious chair and the steps we’re taking together with our partners to have it in your living room as soon as possible. Sign-up by sending an e-mail to marketing@zuiver.com to get a monthly update about this project and be the first to hear the in-store date.

Progress
From the coast of Malaysia to your living room, we want to give you transparency in this project. For us, it’s a completely new design route to produce a chair made out of ocean waste, which involves multiple partners. Like all new developments, it takes dedication, time and patience to meet your goal. Step by step, from design to production, we’re on the right track. Here is an overview of the challenges we’re facing and the steps we’re taking:

• October 2021: Good news: the chairs are currently in full production and will be available in five colour options from early 2022. A great start of the new year!
• July 2021: Exciting steps are made into the realisation of the chair. After some setbacks with the quality of ocean plastic, we’ve found an alternative. By doing more research we’ve decided to focus on Ocean bound plastic (OBP). This is abandoned plastic waste on its way to our oceans. It’s collected from beaches, river banks etcetera up to 50km from our oceans. OBP isn’t degraded or tarnished like ocean plastic. Therefore, it can pass the necessary inspections, quality and safety tests and clears the way to start the production process.
• June 2021: Pre-launching the Ocean chair during World Oceans Day.
• May 2021: There is a setback in the production process. The quality of the retrieved ocean plastic isn’t good enough to go into production. Some of the plastic is been floating in the oceans for years, which now has an impact on the material qualities. We’re currently exploring new options by talking to different NGO’s and Ocean clean-up parties to see if there are alternative ways in using ocean plastic for our chairs.
• March 2021: The first samples arrived at our HQ in Westzaan. We couldn’t be more proud, it’s exactly how we envisioned it. The next step is to start the production.