Styrofoam is a fabric that probably by no means elicits any pleasure upon first look. Usually, it’s simply additional packaging that you just’re attempting to take away to unpack your wished object. Toshiya Hayashi and Hokuto Ando of Japanese design studio we+ inc. wish to reframe that particular relationship between people and supplies with their new product collection, Refoam. Utilizing waste styrofoam that’s been collected in Tokyo, the studio intervenes in the course of the cyclical technique of recycling to create new, avant backyard furnishings.
Styrofoam collected from Tokyo and its suburbs is often melted into ingots at intermediate remedy crops, that are then exported to Europe and South East Asia the place they change into granules that get used to make low cost, recycled plastic merchandise – just like ones you see in greenback shops. The method is advanced and the transportation of the fabric between international locations performs a detrimental position on the planet. As a substitute of permitting this course of to proceed, we+ turns the styrofoam into furnishings proper on the remedy plant, earlier than they change into ingots and head off to a wasteful journey.
Refoam is distinctive for its uncommon texture, which, at first look, seems like marbleized stone or molten lava that’s been excavated, not styrofoam that’s been recycled. In creating the Refoam assortment, we+ has additionally created new values for styrofoam.
To study extra about Refoam, go to weplus.jp.
