Pacific Green

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Pacific Green
Industry Furniture
Founded1973  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
FounderBruce Dowse and Peter Ryan
Headquarters,
ProductsFurniture and accessories,
Architectural materials
Website pacificgreen.net
palmwood.net

Pacific Green designs and manufactures furniture and architectural products. It is most recognised for its development of Palmwood , a sustainable substitute for tropical hardwood. Pacific Green products are distributed internationally.

Contents

Post & Rail Furniture

Post & Rail Furniture was started by Bruce Dowse and Peter Ryan in 1973 in Sydney, Australia. They created various styles of Australian furniture, including the INVESTMENT chair, using plantation wood in its pieces. [1]

International expansion

As it expanded internationally in the late 1980s, the company rebranded as Pacific Green. Its goal was to create a viable substitute for tropical hardwoods by recycling plantation coconut palms. Although palms are extremely hard and durable, their unique properties made them difficult to work using conventional techniques. Starting in Papua New Guinea, and later in the Fiji, the company established the world’s first factory dedicated to the research and development of coconut palms. [2]

In 1996, Pacific Green opened its first US warehouse and showroom in Los Angeles, followed by retail outlets in Eastern Europe. In 2007, the company established an assembly plant in southern China and flagship retail stores in Asia.[ citation needed ]

Development of hardwood substitutes

Palmwood was the name Pacific Green gave to the finished ‘hardwood’ material it developed. The company created a durable consumer-oriented material that was suitable in a variety of climates and resilient to wood-boring insects. Palmwood is an ecologically sustainable timber alternative. [3]

Palmwood was chosen as the sustainable exterior wood for Masdar, the world's first 'eco-city' in Abu Dhabi, including gates, screens and doors. [4]

Indigenous design

The designs of the furniture are inspired by the artifacts and tools of traditional societies using natural materials sourced from around the world. Each piece is handcrafted by artisans using traditional techniques and is designed to give a sense of its global ethnic origins.[ citation needed ]

Former environmental spokesperson Pierce Brosnan on a Pacific Green sofa Pierce Brosnan sitting in Pacific Green sofa.jpg
Former environmental spokesperson Pierce Brosnan on a Pacific Green sofa

Socially responsible manufacturing

Pacific Green pioneered the creation of a socially responsible industry for the Pacific region. [5] By recycling unproductive coconut palms, old plantation land was returned to the local villages to replant with young fruit-bearing palms and other cash crops. The factory was built in consultation with the surrounding villages, and the land used was leased from the villagers to respect local ownership. Pacific Green Industries (Fiji) Limited is listed on the South Pacific Stock Exchange and its majority owners are the Fijian people.

Manufacturing processes use no toxins or chemicals and by-products are reused. In 2001, Pacific Green addressed the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on the social responsibility of manufacturing companies. Pacific Green also advised the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization on its study on Coconut Palm Stems. [6] From the mid-1990s to early-2000s, actor Pierce Brosnan was the company's Environmental Spokesperson to coincide with the company's expansion into North America.

Pacific Green was invited to participate at the World Expo 2010 within the Pacific Pavilion. [7]

Pacific Green unveiled the Indigenous Masterpieces concept at its debut in Milan's Salone del Mobile in 2011. It was the only Australian company to participate at the trade show between 2011 and 2017. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodworking</span> Process of making objects from wood

Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinetry, furniture making, wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lumber</span> Wood that has been processed into beams and planks

Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes, including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing. Lumber has many uses beyond home building. Lumber is referred to as timber in the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, while in other parts of the world the term timber refers specifically to unprocessed wood fiber, such as cut logs or standing trees that have yet to be cut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UPM (company)</span> Finnish forest industry company

UPM-Kymmene Oyj is a Finnish forest industry company. UPM-Kymmene was formed by the merger of Kymmene Corporation with Repola Oy and its subsidiary United Paper Mills Ltd in 1996. UPM consists of six business areas: UPM Fibres, UPM Energy, UPM Raflatac, UPM Specialty Papers, UPM Communication Papers and UPM Plywood. The Group employs around 17,000 people and it has production plants in 11 countries. UPM shares are listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki stock exchange. UPM is the only paper company which is listed in the global Dow Jones Sustainability Index and also a member of the United Nations Global Compact organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pulpwood</span> Timber intended for processing into wood pulp for paper production

Pulpwood can be defined as timber that is ground and processed into a fibrous pulp. It is a versatile natural resource commonly used for paper-making but also made into low-grade wood and used for chips, energy, pellets, and engineered products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pallet</span> Flat structure to transport goods

A pallet is a flat transport structure, which supports goods in a stable fashion while being lifted by a forklift, a pallet jack, a front loader, a jacking device, or an erect crane. Many pallets can handle a load of 1,000 kg (2,200 lb). While most pallets are wooden, pallets can also be made of plastic, metal, paper, and recycled materials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IOI Group</span> Malaysian conglomerate

IOI Corporation Berhad, commonly referred to as IOI, was incorporated on 31 October 1969 as Industrial Oxygen Incorporated Sdn Bhd. IOI is one of Malaysia's biggest conglomerates. It ventured into oil palm plantations in 1983, followed by property development in 1984 and refineries in 1997. IOI was listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) and trading as MYX: 1961—now known as Bursa Malaysia—in 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coconut timber</span> Wood from coconut palm trees

Coconut timber is a hardwood-substitute from coconut palm trees. It is referred to in the Philippines as coconut lumber, or coco lumber, and elsewhere additionally as cocowood or red palm. It is a new timber resource that comes from plantation crops and offers an alternative to rainforest timber.

Teak wood is used for making boats, furniture, and other things which require resistance to the elements. Teak is used for outdoor furniture but is not recommended for full exposure to sunlight. Being more expensive than most other woods, teak furniture has become something of a status symbol. Not only is it common for a teak bench, chair, or table to last 70 years with the correct care plan, it is also common to pass down such furniture to future generations as an heirloom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nash Timbers</span>

Nash Timbers is a global and domestic distributor of timber flooring, joinery, and beams.

Rubberwood is a light-colored medium-density tropical hardwood obtained from the Pará rubber tree, usually from trees grown in rubber plantations. Rubberwood is commonly advertised as an "environmentally friendly" wood, as it makes use of plantation trees that have already served a useful function.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Masdar City</span> First green city in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Masdar City is an urban community in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. It was built by Masdar, a subsidiary of the state-owned Mubadala Investment Company, with the majority of seed capital provided by the Government of Abu Dhabi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable flooring</span>

Sustainable flooring is produced from sustainable materials that reduces demands on ecosystems during its life-cycle. This includes harvest, production, use and disposal. It is thought that sustainable flooring creates safer and healthier buildings and guarantees a future for traditional producers of renewable resources that many communities depend on. Several initiatives have led the charge to bring awareness of sustainable flooring as well as healthy buildings. Below are examples of available, though sometimes less well-known, eco-friendly flooring options. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America recommends those with allergies to dust or other particulates choose flooring with smooth surfaces – such as hardwood, vinyl, linoleum tile or slate.

Wilmar International Limited is a Singaporean food processing and investment holding company with more than 300 subsidiary companies. Founded in 1991, it is one of Asia's leading agribusiness groups alongside the COFCO Group. It ranks amongst the largest listed companies by market capitalisation on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), being the second largest as of September 2010. It was ranked 211th in the Fortune Global 500 list in 2020. It was ranked 3rd in the World's Most Admired Company by Fortune in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plantation teak</span>

Plantation teak is a tropical hardwood tree from the genus Tectona, endemic to Southeast Asia that is exclusively planted for the purpose of forestry management, for either commercial timber plantations or ecological restoration. Although the genus Tectona is native to the tropical regions of Southeast Asia, primarily Indonesia, Myanmar, India, Bangladesh and Thailand, the cultivation of plantation teak is economically viable in other tropical regions such as Central America.

Proteak is a forestry company that cultivates teak trees on plantations located on reclaimed ranch lands in the dry tropical regions of Mexico and Latin America. Based out of Mexico City, Mexico, Proteak has satellite offices in Wimberley, Texas and Tepic, Mexico. At their manufacturing facilities, Proteak produces a range of teak products including: cutting boards, butcher blocks, decking, flooring and lumber.

Environmentally sustainable design is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of ecological sustainability and also aimed at improving the health and comfort of occupants in a building. Sustainable design seeks to reduce negative impacts on the environment, the health and well-being of building occupants, thereby improving building performance. The basic objectives of sustainability are to reduce the consumption of non-renewable resources, minimize waste, and create healthy, productive environments.

Lumber and wood products, including timber for framing, plywood, and woodworking, are created in the wood industry from the trunks and branches of trees through several processes, commencing with the selection of appropriate logging sites and concluding with the milling and treatment processes of the harvested material. In order to determine which logging sites and milling sites are responsibly producing environmental, social and economic benefits, they must be certified under the Forests For All Forever (FCS) Certification that ensures these qualities.

Zeoform is a material developed by the Australian company, Zeo IP Pty. It is derived from water and cellulose, specifically polymeric lignocellulosic fibres from industrial biomass into a structural material suitable for various applications in the industrial sector. It is claimed(it is not verified yet) to be non-toxic, biodegradable, and that it could replace many forms of hard plastics, synthetic compounds and other polymers.

The wood industry or timber industry is the industry concerned with forestry, logging, timber trade, and the production of primary forest products and wood products and secondary products like wood pulp for the pulp and paper industry. Some of the largest producers are also among the biggest owners of forest. The wood industry has historically been and continues to be an important sector in many economies.

Polygood is a recycled plastic surface material produced by The Good Plastic Company. The panels are manufactured using only recycled post-consumer and post-industrial polystyrene plastic waste and are primarily used in sustainable furniture production and interior design.

References

  1. "Why Pacific Green Furniture is the Future of Home Furnishing". Andrew Shoemaker. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
  2. "Seeing The Wood In The Coconut Trees". Australian Financial Review. 25 September 1992. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  3. "Deforestation | Greenpeace Australia Pacific". www.greenpeace.org. Archived from the original on 12 September 2006.
  4. "Pacific Green Inaugurates Masdar City's Sustainable Palm Gates - Green Prophet". 10 February 2011.
  5. "Design for Sustainable Development" (PDF). European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions.
  6. "Coconut palm stem processing: technical handbook".
  7. "That sinking feeling".
  8. "Salone Del Mobile Milano 2014: Reportage #1". Cappello A Bombetta.