Published on : Friday, April 22, 2016
The Furniture Industry Research Association’s recently initiated “Circular Economy” project is benefiting from an important collaboration with Orangebox. The project challenges the prevailing economic model of ‘take-make-consume-dispose’ and aims to explore the opportunities of a more sustainable manufacturing model which advocates a restorative and regenerative approach to the use of resources. In effect, materials should be used and re-used as much as possible.
The work with Orangebox, which will be presented at the Clerkenwell Design Week, via two sessions on May 25 and 26, explores the environmental and economic potential of remanufactured compared to brand new furniture. This is a critical element of the project, which needs to demonstrate to industry that a circular approach to manufacturing, driven initially by sustainable design, is the way forward.
The workshops, at the Orangebox showroom, will commence with a presentation on the project followed by an opportunity for the audience to put forward its own ideas on the Circular Economy concept including its drivers and blockages.
This input will be invaluable as FIRA continues to work on other elements within the project including:
• A furniture resource exchange platform
• A Circular Economy task force for the UK furniture industry
• Resource hotspot analyses
• A reuse & remanufacturing standard
• A potential product stewardship framework and extended producer responsibility scheme
Tags: circular economy, design, economic, elements, environment, FIRA, furniture, Furniture Industry Research Association, ideas, manufacturing, model, orangebox, platform, presentation, project, resource, reuse, session, sustainable, workshops
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