7 interiors brands that re-use and recycle

Looking for interiors brands that use recycled materials? Climate change is a powerful motivator when it comes to innovation in modern design, meaning an increasing number of companies are developing sustainable products and practices.

While eco-friendly building materials are one thing, home furnishings are equally as important. These seven brands use recycled materials, from paper to metal and stone, in design-led interiors products.

1. For recycled light fittings: Crea-Re

This sustainable brand specialises in light fittings made from recycled newspapers via paper maché. However, rather than the naïve crafty aesthetic you might expect for such a medium, Maria Fiter’s work is striking and sculptural. The Pluto pendant light fitting below is stocked by Crea-Re.

2. For recycled radiators: Vasco

The aluminium used in Vasco’s design radiators is 100% recycled, and any extra elements required are also made from aluminium, ensuring that the product can be fully recycled at the end of its life.

3. For recycled furnishings: Joined + Jointed

When Joined + Jointed founder Samuel Chan saw one of his colleagues throwing out a pile of wood offcuts, he rescued them and gave them new life as Patch parquetry side tables. Each design is unique, and each a labour of love to construct.

4. For recycled worktops: Cosentino

Cosentino’s Dekton Trillium range of surfaces (pictured below) are made from as much as 80% recycled materials, sourced from waste and offcuts from producing from Cosentino’s quartz manufacturing processes. It can be cut slim to make for characterful cladding and veneers for cabinetry, or thicker surface to be used as durable work surfaces.

5. For recycled leather: Lind DNA

While it may be a controversial material choice to source as a raw product, Lind DNA‘s range of furniture and accessories is all crafted from OEKO-TEX certified recycled leather. It’s made from excess vegetable-tanned core leather from the fashion and furniture industry, which is granulated into small pieces and then pressed together with natural rubber from trees. The result is a recycled interiors leather quality, consisting of 80% core leather and 20% natural rubber, that’s durable, water-resistant and easy to clean.

6. For recycled rugs: Jennifer Manners

Jennifer Manners’ /re/PURPOSE rug collection, awarded Best Sustainable Product at Decorex 2019, is created from yarn made from 100% recycled bottles. A standard two-by-three-metre rugs uses 4,000 bottles that would otherwise end of in landfill, and it’s surprisingly soft and wool-like, as well as hard wearing and stain resistant. The hard-wearing /re/PUROSE fibre showed no signs of distress following a commercial-grade 50,000-rub count, so it will withstand high traffic in busy households.

7. For recycled tiles: Sequel by Parkside

The Sequel range from Parkside is a tile collection made from 98% recycled materials. The company takes glass and porcelain waste and combines it into a new kind of handmade tile with a unique character and low environmental impact. Sequel Vibe is a stylish collection of handmade glazed tiles, featuring a palette of three organic colours featuring unique colour variations.

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Looking for more brands that champion sustainability?

Check out Kevin’s Green Heroes. Every year at Grand Designs Live, Kevin McCloud celebrates brands that use recycled materials and deliver sustainable construction materials. Kevin personally selects his top heroes for each show, from small-scale start-ups to big businesses.

• ökoform Ltd make stylish and practical desks with a built-in heat solution
• Made of Air created a biochar-based, carbon negative rainscreen panel for Audi
• Kelda Showers make cutting edge air-powered showers using the principles of fuel injection technology
• BAUX creates patented, 100% bio-based materials which drastically pushes the boundaries of cellulosic properties
• Graphenstone makes Ambient Pro+ Premium, an air-purifying VOC-free mineral paint with graphene technology for durability
• Bee saving paper is a true, free paper that is made from glucose as an energy boost for bees
• Polywood bottles create sustainable plastic bottle packaging, blending natural fibres with resin
• Elite-eco developed a waterproofing membrane from recycled rubber crumbs that can be spray-applied to concrete, mortar, ceramic, brick and wood
• Texfelt are world leading manufacturers of sustainable PU foam replacements creating innovative comfort products for the home
• Gumdrop created the world’s first closed-loop recycling solution for waste chewing gum (both the bin and its contents can be recycled to make more bins)
• CorkSol creates SprayCork, a natural cork coating for internal and external insulation applications
• Biofase makes biodegradable cutlery, straws and cocktail stirrers from avocado seeds
• Inno-Therm developed a low-carbon recycled cotton natural fibre insulation that offers effective sound proofing
• The Great Outdoor Gym Company manufacture outdoor gyms that generate human energy and plant trees from online workout sales
• ecoBirdy creates sustainable furniture like the award-winning Charlie Chair, made from recycled plastic toys