VIPER is HOLMRIS B8’s first sustainable chair made from recycled plastic with traceability back to its original source. VIPER is unique in that both the shell and the tilting mechanism under the seat are made of recycled plastic.
Plastic – the Sustainable Resource
VIPER was designed by Hans Thyge and Co. in close cooperation with HOLMRIS B8 and Letbæk Plast, which also manufactures the shell and tilting mechanism. Letbæk Plast is Denmark’s only plastics manufacturer that can handle the full life cycle of any plastic product, including design, development, manufacturing and recycling. Since 1973, they have specialized in separating plastic into fragments and combining it into new, better and stronger materials for use in new products and solutions. To Letbæk Plast, plastic is a sustainable resource that they use to solve the challenges of a wide range of different customers.
As with HOLMRIS B8, the circular approach is an integral part of their DNA. In fact, they insist that customers return the products and solutions after use so that the materials can be recycled and used in the manufacture of new solutions.
Sustainability surpasses aesthetics in the furniture industry
And things are trending in the right direction: Young consumers are demanding and choosing more sustainable solutions and circular thinking – trends also backed by political initiatives. These demands have finally reached the furniture industry.
Letbæk Plast CEO Michael Bayer Thomsen says: “Just three years ago, we had a hard time getting our foot in the door in the furniture industry because consumers weren’t anywhere near ready for products made from recycled plastic. Aesthetics trumped sustainability, but the tables are turned now. This is because manufacturers are better at combining the two, and because climate concerns have gained ground and are top of mind in everything we do and buy.”