111 Navy Chair

Last updated

Emeco 111 Navy Chair
TypeFurniture
Inception2010
Manufacturer Emeco
AvailableYes
Website Official website

The Emeco 111 Navy Chair is a recycled plastic chair manufactured by Emeco. It is based on the Emeco 1006 chair originally built for Navy warships during World War II. [1]

Contents

History

In 2006, Coca-Cola sought a means to keep their plastic bottles out of landfills, and sought product applications via manufacturing partnerships. They approached chair manufacturer Emeco, best known for manufacturing chairs from aluminum. [2] [3] Emeco's leadership "jumped on the project." [1] The company saw it as an opportunity to develop an innovative, structurally sound material and keep plastic bottles out of the landfill. [4] The two companies began to talk about the possibilities of recreating the iconic Navy Chair using rPET. [5]

Development

A cafe using Emeco 111 Navy Chairs Emeco 111 Navy Chairs.jpg
A cafe using Emeco 111 Navy Chairs

At the time Emeco began working to create the chair out of rPET [ broken anchor ], other companies were making rPET products such as T-shirts, bags, caps and notebooks. [3] Soft recycled PET plastic was originally intended for short-lived fabric and textiles and Emeco needed to build a tough, one-piece, scratch-resistant chair for heavy-duty use. [6]

Emeco’s engineering team worked for four years to create a material made of recycled PET plastic that is made into pellets. Those pellets are mixed with glass fiber and color pigment. [3] Each chair starts out as 6 kilograms (13 lb) of plastic pellets that are melted down and then injection-molded into the shape of the 1006 Navy Chair. Craftsmen add the H brace to make the chair sturdier and they smooth out any imperfections that result from injection moulding. [3] [5]

The resulting 111 Navy Chair has the identical design of the 1006 Navy Chair. The one-piece design is scratch-resistant and suitable for heavy-duty use. [2]

Each 111 Navy Chair is made of at least 111 recycled PET plastic bottles—65% post consumer PET—with 35% glass fiber and pigment; this gives the chair its name. [7] The chair comes in six colors and passes all commercial requirements—it is structurally strong, fire retardant and cleanable. [7]

Results

As of late 2016, over 22 million plastic bottles have been kept out of the landfill and made into 111 Navy Chairs. Emeco CEO Gregg Buchbinder said in an interview with Forbes magazine "We’ve turned something many people throw away into something you want and can keep for a long, long time." [1]

The chair sells at a much lower price than the original aluminium version of the Navy Chair. [1] [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene</span> Thermoplastic polymer

Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) (chemical formula (C8H8)x·​(C4H6)y·​(C3H3N)z ) is a common thermoplastic polymer. Its glass transition temperature is approximately 105 °C (221 °F). ABS is amorphous and therefore has no true melting point.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polyethylene terephthalate</span> Polymer

Polyethylene terephthalate (or poly(ethylene terephthalate), PET, PETE, or the obsolete PETP or PET-P), is the most common thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family and is used in fibres for clothing, containers for liquids and foods, and thermoforming for manufacturing, and in combination with glass fibre for engineering resins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thermosetting polymer</span> Polymer obtained by irreversibly hardening (curing) a resin

In materials science, a thermosetting polymer, often called a thermoset, is a polymer that is obtained by irreversibly hardening ("curing") a soft solid or viscous liquid prepolymer (resin). Curing is induced by heat or suitable radiation and may be promoted by high pressure or mixing with a catalyst. Heat is not necessarily applied externally, and is often generated by the reaction of the resin with a curing agent. Curing results in chemical reactions that create extensive cross-linking between polymer chains to produce an infusible and insoluble polymer network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PET bottle recycling</span> Recycling of bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate

Although PET is used in several applications, as of 2022 only bottles are collected at a substantial scale. The main motivations have been either cost reduction or recycle content of retail goods. An increasing amount is recycled back into bottles, the rest goes into fibres, film, thermoformed packaging and strapping. After sorting, cleaning and grinding, 'bottle flake' is obtained, which is then processed by either:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Closure (container)</span> Devices and techniques used to close or seal a bottle, jug, jar, tube, can, etc.

A closure is a device used to close or seal a container such as a bottle, jug, jar, tube, or can. A closure may be a cap, cover, lid, plug, liner, or the like. The part of the container to which the closure is applied is called the finish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wood–plastic composite</span> Composite materials made of wood fiber and thermoplastics

Wood–plastic composites (WPCs) are composite materials made of wood fiber/wood flour and thermoplastic(s) such as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), or polylactic acid (PLA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High-density polyethylene</span> Class of polyethylenes

High-density polyethylene (HDPE) or polyethylene high-density (PEHD) is a thermoplastic polymer produced from the monomer ethylene. It is sometimes called "alkathene" or "polythene" when used for HDPE pipes. With a high strength-to-density ratio, HDPE is used in the production of plastic bottles, corrosion-resistant piping, geomembranes and plastic lumber. HDPE is commonly recycled, and has the number "2" as its resin identification code.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plastic recycling</span> Processes which convert waste plastic into new items

Plastic recycling is the processing of plastic waste into other products. Recycling can reduce dependence on landfill, conserve resources and protect the environment from plastic pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Recycling rates lag behind those of other recoverable materials, such as aluminium, glass and paper. From the start of plastic production through to 2015, the world produced around 6.3 billion tonnes of plastic waste, only 9% of which has been recycled and only ~1% has been recycled more than once. Of the remaining waste, 12% was incinerated and 79% was either sent to landfills or lost to the environment as pollution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Water bottle</span> Container for liquids

A water bottle is a container that is used to hold liquids, mainly water, for the purpose of transporting a drink while travelling or while otherwise away from a supply of potable water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glass recycling</span> Processing of turning glass waste into usable products

Glass recycling is the processing of waste glass into usable products. Glass that is crushed or imploded and ready to be remelted is called cullet. There are two types of cullet: internal and external. Internal cullet is composed of defective products detected and rejected by a quality control process during the industrial process of glass manufacturing, transition phases of product changes and production offcuts. External cullet is waste glass that has been collected or reprocessed with the purpose of recycling. External cullet is classified as waste. The word "cullet", when used in the context of end-of-waste, will always refer to external cullet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polyester</span> Category of polymers, in which the monomers are joined together by ester links

Polyester is a category of polymers that contain one or two ester linkages in every repeat unit of their main chain. As a specific material, it most commonly refers to a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyesters include naturally occurring chemicals, such as in plants and insects, as well as synthetics such as polybutyrate. Natural polyesters and a few synthetic ones are biodegradable, but most synthetic polyesters are not. Synthetic polyesters are used extensively in clothing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plastic lumber</span> Building material

Plastic lumber is a plastic form of lumber made of virgin or recycled plastic. It is mostly made of plastic and binders such as fiberglass or rebar; not to be confused with wood-plastic composite lumber. Widely employed in outdoor decking, it is also used for molding and trim and garden furniture such as park benches. Resistant to cracking and splitting when appropriately installed, plastic lumber can be molded with or without simulated wood grain details. Even with a wood grain design, plastic lumber is still easy to distinguish visually from natural timber: the grains are the same uniform color as the rest of the material.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emeco 1006</span> Navy chair

The Emeco 1006, also known as the Navy chair, is an aluminum chair manufactured by Emeco. The 1006 was originally built in 1944 for Navy warships during World War II, but later became a designer chair used in high-end restaurants and by interior designers. In the 1990s, the company began creating designer versions of the 1006 chair, such as the stackable Hudson chair and the 111 Navy Chair made from recycled plastic. Emeco also makes stools, tables, and other furniture. As of 2012, more than one million Emeco 1006 chairs have been produced.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Textile recycling</span> Method of reusing or reprocessing used clothing, fibrous material and rags

Textile recycling is the process of recovering fiber, yarn, or fabric and reprocessing the material into new, useful products. Textile waste is split into pre-consumer and post-consumer waste and is sorted into five different categories derived from a pyramid model. Textiles can be either reused or mechanically/chemically recycled.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alpla</span> Austrian plastics manufacturer

ALPLA, otherwise ALPLA Group is an Austrian, international acting plastics manufacturer and plastics recycler headquartered in Hard, specialising in blow-moulded bottles and caps, injection-moulded parts, preforms and tubes. It is one of the largest producers of rigid plastic packaging solutions worldwide, with a total of 196 production plants in 47 countries worldwide, approx. 23,300 employees and annual sales of € 4.7 billion in 2022. In early 2021, the ALPLA Group announced that it would invest an average of 50 million euros a year until 2025 in the ongoing expansion of its recycling activities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plastic bottle</span> Narrow-necked container

A plastic bottle is a bottle constructed from high-density or low density plastic. Plastic bottles are typically used to store liquids such as water, soft drinks, motor oil, cooking oil, medicine, shampoo, milk, ink, etc. They come in a range of sizes, from very small bottles to large carboys. Consumer blow molded containers often have integral handles or are shaped to facilitate grasping.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plastic</span> Material of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids

Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be molded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptability, plus a wide range of other properties, such as being lightweight, durable, flexible, and inexpensive to produce, has led to their widespread use. Plastics typically are made through human industrial systems. Most modern plastics are derived from fossil fuel-based chemicals like natural gas or petroleum; however, recent industrial methods use variants made from renewable materials, such as corn or cotton derivatives.

Composite lumber is a material that is a mixture of wood fiber, plastic, and some type of binding agent. These ingredients are put together to form a material that is denser, stronger, and heavier than wood alone, a wood-plastic composite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emeco</span> American furniture manufacturing company

Emeco is a privately held company based in Hanover, Pennsylvania. The Emeco 1006, known as the Navy Chair, has been in continuous production since the 1940s. Today, Emeco manufactures furniture designed by notable designers and architects such as Philippe Starck, Norman Foster, and Frank Gehry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of bottle recycling in the United States</span>

The history of bottle recycling in the United States has been characterized by four distinct stages. In the first stage, during the late 18th century and early 19th century, most bottles were reused or returned. When bottles were mass-produced, people started throwing them out, which led to the introduction of bottle deposits. However, during the second stage, after World War II, consumption patterns changed and nonreturnable containers became popular, which littered the environment. Some states implemented "bottle bills" that instituted deposits. The beverage-container industry first implemented private recycling programs and then pushed for municipal curbside recycling as an alternative to "bottle bills". More recently, PET bottles have largely replaced other materials. The United States used to be the front-runner when it came to recycling PET, but European countries have since outpaced the US.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Hickman, Matt (April 14, 2010). "A Second Life For Coke Bottles". Forbes. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
  2. 1 2 Proctor, Rebecca (2015). The Sustainable Design Book. London: Laurence King. ISBN   978-1780674735.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Bolchover, Joshua (2012). Vitamin Green. New York: Phaidon Press. ISBN   978-0714862293.
  4. Kingswell, Tamsin (2016). "Materials Spotlight Rethinking Plastic". MIX. 39: 76–79.
  5. 1 2 "MADE TO LAST – DAMN° Magazine" . Retrieved December 22, 2016.
  6. Deppieri, Andrea (2014). "TETE DE BOIS". Pasajes Arquitectura (in Spanish). 133: 52–60. ISSN   1575-1937.
  7. 1 2 GmbH, iF International Forum Design, ed. (May 1, 2011). iF product design award yearbook 2011. Hannover, Germany: iF Design Media. ISBN   9783942776011.