Every dish drainer, kitchen roll holder or utensils pot picked up from the supermarket. Do you know how or where these things are made?
It's highly likely they're made from virgin plastic in The Far East then shipped to the UK. This means heavy use of fossil fuels for manufacturing and transport, at great cost to to the environment. Plus these products are often “co-moulded” - made of mixed materials that can’t be recycled. So, most everyday plastic products like these end up in landfill and will never decompose.
Pioneering the transformation of waste into stylish homeware, ReBorn® significantly reduces the need for virgin materials and breathes life into discarded materials.
Makers worked with chemical engineers and environmental scientists at Brunel University London and leading UK sustainable waste management company Biffa to transform waste plastics – mostly used food packaging collected from Britain’s factories – into attractive and practical ReBorn® homewares. Every element, from raw materials to packaging, supports local industries and eliminates the carbon footprint associated with international transportation.
ReBorn’s innovative use of waste materials slashes carbon emissions by 67% compared with the conventional methods used within the homeware industry – an industry which has expanded substantially in the last decade thanks in part to the ever-growing “fast furniture” trend.
The ReBorn® range, which starts from £12.99, includes a selection of kitchen sinkside and home storage products has been snapped up by John Lewis, and launches in stores nationwide and online at johnlewis.com this month.
ReBorn® products are not only reusable, repairable and recyclable at end of life, but all products have also been designed to be space efficient, useful and long-lasting, while their functionality and colours have been extensively researched amongst consumers to bring style and practicality into our homes.
Founder Brian Walmsley said: “Almost 70 million homeware items are thrown away in the UK every year, many of which will end up in landfill, and we know that this is a major issue that retailers are keen to address.
“Through ReBorn®, we wanted to tackle this problem and have created a brand that turns industrial waste into eye-catching homeware that elevates your kitchen’s aesthetic, delivering a more sustainable and circular approach that clearly resonates with consumers.”
The whole range has the seal of approval from chemical engineers at Brunel University London, where the recycled plastic is rigorously quality checked, so customers can be 100% sure it’s safe for home use, and durable. Brunel-based environmental scientists led by Dr Eleni lacovidou, will also track the product’s lifecycle to compare its carbon emissions with conventional virgin plastic, import-reliant homeware products.
“ReBorn promises to markedly reduce the number of virgin plastics the UK imports and, most importantly, contribute to efforts to promote a circular plastics economy,” said Dr George Fern, who leads Brunel’s Wolfson Centre for Sustainable Materials Development and Processing. “This more circular approach can sizably shrink the carbon footprint of the large UK homewares industry and in doing so, help the UK reach its net zero carbon goals.”
Phil Goodier, Managing Director, Biffa Polymers, said: “Biffa Polymers is at the heart of the UK’s drive to increase plastic recycling rates – we’re delighted to be working with ReBorn to support their exciting new consumer products, which use recycled polypropylene produced at our advanced manufacturing facility in Redcar.”
Bath design team, Studio Davis has led the product design for the new ReBorn range. Founder, Wil Davis said: "The use of recycled materials, UK manufacturing and circularity of design provided a clear set of principles, opportunities and constraints for the launch range. We combined this with regular consumer input on both style and function, to deliver a compelling range in storage and cleaning."
For more about ReBorn® visit reborn.homes or follow the story on social media: LinkedIn