Recycling starts at the drawing board

Through uniting experts, from our own material engineers to designers like Tom Dixon, we can develop products that can be recycled and go back into the loop – starting already at the drawing board.

When industrial designer Tom Dixon decided to make a chair that was lightweight, robust and 100 percent recyclable, he looked to aluminium and Hydro. The joint project started in late 2018, when Hydro’s experts from recycling, surface treatment and extrusion design came together with Tom Dixon and his design team.

The result will be a chair, made from recycled aluminium, designed to last and easily recycled at the end of its useful life.

“I think it’s very important that different industries meet each other like this. By exchanging ideas and knowledge, we develop exciting things in ways we have not done before. Sustainability is a critical factor, which is one of the reasons I like designing with aluminium,” says Tom Dixon, who is Creative Director of Tom Dixon Studio.

The chair is currently under development and will be launched in 2020. For now, please explore our site to learn more about the collaboration and how aluminium is made, shaped and recycled for the circular economy.

Atualizado: maio 14, 2019

Facts

· Tom Dixon is a British designer based in London, with branches in New York, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles and Tokyo. Tom Dixon Studio specializes in interior design products, especially in metals, including furniture, lighting and accessories.

· The collaboration between Hydro and Tom Dixon started in late 2018, with the aim to design and produce a 100% recyclable chair produced locally in the UK.

· Hydro’s experts work closely with its customers such as designers and architects to advise on how to best design in aluminium – and how to design for recycling already at the drawing board.

· Hydro produces more than 70% of its aluminium using renewable energy sources, making it among the greenest aluminium in the world. While as much as 75% of the aluminium ever made is still in use, increasing recycling of aluminium so it can go back into the loop is key to enable a circular economy.