Core77

This KWART Chair has "The Lowest Eco-Footprint on the Market"

Manufacturer Circuform has figured out the complete lifecycle of the chair

By Rain Noe - May 9, 2023

in Furniture Design | Sustainability

Veteran industrial designer Ton Haas, who's run his own firm since 1993, designed this KWART chair for Dutch manufacturer Circuform.

"The KWART is a comfortable design chair designed by Ton Haas. With its airy seat and strong construction, little material is needed to produce this chair and it is light in weight. The KWART can take a beating and is ideal for busy and frequently used areas such as canteens and informal spaces, but also for the home or patio."

The chair has an interesting credential: Circuform says it's been awarded an LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) score of 0.25, making it "by far the chair with the lowest eco-footprint currently available on the market. This is partly because the chair is produced in the Netherlands from fully recycled plastic."

On top of that, Circuform takes a deposit for this chair from the buyer, refunding it when the chair is returned; the company wants it back at the end of its use, "Regardless of the condition of the chair," they write. "We reuse the plastic in our production process, and so the circle of the KWART is complete."

o
4

Favorite This
Q
6

Comment

Comments

Zach W

a year ago

Z

1Z

Reply

No chance a rigid chair like this is the "lowest eco impact" chair on the market. I call total BS. The LCA looks very incomplete, is not well explained, has large gaps and doesn't seem to include shipping one single chair to and from a customer. There is also little to no information about the company that did the LCA so it's not exactly inspiring confidence....

!Report as spam
- Chuck Mack
  
  Zach W
  
  a year ago
  
  Z
  
  Z
  
  Reply
  
  Yeah, plenty is left out of this equation, BUT, I do like the deposit that promises a refund later - most plastic and toxic stuff should be like that, like cars, especially EVs - all those 3/4 ton batteries at some future date will be a problem. Even better would be a no deposit refund or buyback, an attractive one.
  
  !Report as spam
  - Zach W
    
    Chuck Mack
    
    a year ago
    
    Z
    
    Z
    
    You think the company is going to pay you refund money AND pay to ship the chair back to their warehouse from anywhere in the world? You know what it costs to ship a box that size international?? That tells me the profit margin is way high if they can spend that much money on shipping and refunds and still make money at the end of the day....
    
    !Report as spam
Einar Blixhavn

a year ago

Z

Z

Reply

It has a low carbon footprint for a plastic chair. Not for a chair.

The Thonet bistro chair is made of wood, so no need to recycle it, or at the end of its life it could be recycled into firewood by the consumer. The carbon footprint of wood is much lower than that of plastic. (Negative 1.8 kg co2 per kg, as opposed to plastics positive 6kg co2 per kg) Also, the bentwood chairs are shipped un-assembled, and they could fit 36chairs in one cubic meter.

So when it comes to low carbon footprint chairs, the competition is a wooden chair, negative carbon footprint of 1.8 kg co2 per kg wood (beech) not sure about the carbon footprint of the steaming, 36 chairs fit in one cubic meter for transportation, and end of life is either returning to soil, or the energy is harvested (firewood) not to mention they were designed and produced a century ago, and many still survive.

That is a tall order to outdo. Even for a plastic chair.

!Report as spam
Joshua F

a year ago

Z

Z

Reply

Zach, I couldn't Agree more... Total BS!
It's more likely to be the "most eco friendly"...as no one else does this study on chairs, let alone the fact it relies on recycled material. Sustainable materials are a much better approach for this sort of mentality IMO. There's no way they included the carbon generated to even get the raw material through the door. Just because its rubbish doesn't mean its carbon neutral.

Silly article title if you ask me, Rain.

!Report as spam
steve hassler

a year ago

Z

Z

Reply

Can it be stackable where the seat is wider than the back?

!Report as spam